


New World, New Life

by TheNoca



Category: Original Work
Genre: Betrayal, Corruption, Dark Fantasy, Depression, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Drama & Romance, Dysfunctional Family, Eventual Romance, F/M, Family Drama, Fantasy, Friends to Lovers, Harems, Historical Fantasy, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Isekai, Manga & Anime, Multi, Pre-War, Rebellion, Reincarnation, Serious, Sibling Rivalry, Suicide, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2020-07-08 06:49:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 60,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19865290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNoca/pseuds/TheNoca
Summary: A young man, Damien, who was sent to a whole other world after committing suicide. However, he's not the only person to have reincarnated to this world and the denizens are well aware of that. After awakening in this, he comes to find out that people are separated in this world based on how they die. The area Damien resurrected in wasn't where he was suppose to be and is deemed an invader by the citizens of the area he is in. Invaders are executed by orders of the court and Damien is forced to flee the area and hide in a remote village not far from where he fled from where a small family took him in to protect them.From there, he lived his new life as a lowly villager with this family helping him get around. However, just as everything was settling down for him, search parties for him began to search his village.Just as they found him, the village came under attack by an army of pillagers. After fending the pillagers off with the search party, they offer him something that will allow him to remain alive. An offer in of itself that might kill him in the foreseeable future.





	1. Prologue Part 1 (Prologue Arc)

"Damien...," A young woman hid behind a young man classified as Damien as he proceeded to unsheathe his sword.

"I'll handle them. I'll clear a path and I want you to head home. I'll meet you there," Damien looked at the woman from the corner of his eyes and saw her nod, "Good, When I say run, you run, okay?" She nodded again allowing Damien to open her a path, "Well, it's now or never...," Damien charged in and was quick to dispose 4 pillagers opening a path for her, "Run!"

_"How did I get to this moment? Why am I charging into the fray with very little combat experience? Why?"_

-2 weeks earlier-

Damien sat at the edge of the highest level of a parking garage. Beneath him, was the concrete street below. Crowding that street below were multiple onlookers and police cars with policemen there as well, "These people don't care..."

"But we do!" Behind him, 3 other young adults shouted. 1 man and 2 women. One of the women stood forward saying, "Damien, you need to get down and let us all talk it out. This isn't how you should handle your problems!"

"What makes you so sure? Don't you think I've tried? This isn't something that can be talked down..."

"Dude," The man started, "we've been through this since middle school. Don't do this man...," Damien didn't respond as he shook his head, "Damn it man! Come on!"

"Damien!" The other woman started rather rambunctiously, "Get down from there now! Our group wouldn't be the same without you!"

Damien stood from where he was and turned around towards them, "Watch...," Damien fell back off the parking garage as gasps of people and people shouting 'No!' filled the air.

A loud, flat thud was heard from where the 3 were as they were visibly shocked and speechless, "D-Damien...?" The first girl softly uttered before she ran to the edge yelling, "Damieeeeeeeen!"

_A bright light...._

_A bright light is what I saw as soon as I made contact with the hard concrete down below. Is this feeling how death felt like? No, it wasn't. It was the feeling at a second chance. A second chance that I didn't want._

Damien eyes fluttered open. He was still Damien in his mind, but he felt different. He felt lighter and more lively. Damien looked around and saw nothing but flowers and the blue sky above. The sky was accompanied by neatly aligned puffy clouds, "Am I in heaven?"

"Not at all," Damien looked above him to see a dark silhouette looking over him, "And you're not in hell either," The figure moved closer to Damien's face to show that the figure was a young woman. A woman that looked just slightly older than Damien himself.

Damien quickly sat up and gave one more glance around, "A meadow?" He questioned.

"Yes. You're in the Meadow of Reincarnation," Damien gave on good look around again to see multiple people, young, old, and even some his age, rising from the meadow, "This is where people come after they die to start their life a new. They can come back as an adult, child, or as an elder."

"Wait..."

"Is something wrong Damien?"

"Yes there's...," Damien looked at the woman and asked, "How do you know my name?"

"Everyone here in the capitol knows your name before you even die so that you won't feel awkward when introducing yourself. Also, your outward appearance changes. Take a look," The woman handed Damien a mirror and he indeed look completely different.

Rather than the former short hair he was used to, he had long hair tied into a rather slick, but neat ponytail. He could also see that he was more toned than he was back home, "This is really me?"

"Yes, is this a shock?"

"Y-Yes...," Damien rubbed his face and looked at the garb he had on. The garb looked to be low class. It was rather bland and looked more like rags than high-class clothing, "W-Wait, what if I didn't want this?"

"Whatever do you mean Damien?"

"I never wanted a second chance. Yeah, I look nice and all, but I committed suicide for a reason."

"Ah!" The woman randomly screamed. Damien turned to her and saw that she had a look of horror on her face, "Y-You shouldn't be here!"

"What's the problem here?" A group of armored men asked. They all had swords on their hips with shields on their backs, "Well?"

"T-This man shouldn't be here! He committed suicide!"

"What?" The men quickly drew their swords and glared at Damien.

"W-Wait. What the hell?!"

"You were never meant to be reincarnated here! You were to sent to the pits of hell itself, not here!"

"I-I..."

"We'll send you there personally!" Each of the men ran towards him and jabbed their swords in his direction. Damien rolled past the swords and sprinted away from them, "Hey!" One of the men yelled, but Damien kept running, "Bah, sound the horn. We can't let him escape the capitol!"

_I had no idea what was going on or why I was feared and wanted dead so much. I now know why, but at the time, I was completely clueless._

Damien ran through a marketplace-like area with armed men behind him. Along the roof tops of buildings, archers took shots at him. Damien was narrowly dodging death the whole time he ran. He ran and ran until he saw a massive exit along the walls of a castle. He instantly felt relieved only before he ran into 3 more armed people.

However, these 3 were different from the other armed soldiers chasing him earlier. They were more decorated with their armor and weapons seemed more prestigious. One had a rather large fan/staff like weapon 

with another wielding two halberds.

A third one, a female had chain and sickle.

She twirled it around as the 3 blocked him off.

"Looks like we have someone who was suppose to go to hell in our world now, right you two?" The girl started, "This haven't happened at all in our lifetime or in the past few centuries. This is a pure opportune moment."

"To be honest, what's the point of killing this man if he might just end up here anyway," The one with fan-staff responded. It was hard to see his face as he wore a large conical hat, "We should just let him be. He won't do any damage."

"You know this isn't our choice. These are orders under our lord," The soldier with the halberds firmly responded, "We don't have any choice in this matter. We kill him now and he'll be reborn as a just person."

"What if he already is?"

"Enough talk!" The woman warrior responded, "We deal with him now and ask questions later."

"Damn it," Damien stepped back as the woman split into different versions of herself and surrounded him, "Now this seems a little unnecessary," The copies twirled their chain and sickle at high speeds. Once the blade wasn't even visible, she threw it towards Damien.

Damien however was quick to dodge the multiple blades flying towards him. Damien sprinted around her as she was infuriated that he dodged with ease, "What?!"

"Stop there!" The dual-halberd warrior demanded.

"You should already know I won't comply," Damien stopped as the warrior performed sweeping strikes under Damien and around his whole body. Damien was able to easily dodge each strike as he was able to determine where they were coming from. Damien slid under the warrior and sprinted towards the last one.

"Stop him Fabián!" The woman ordered. Damien waited for the warrior, now known as Fabián, to make a move. However, Damien was surprised to see Fabián floating on his fan-staff napping, "Eh?"

"Uh...," Damien didn't take a moment to question it as he just ran by out of the castle exit.

"Fabián!" The dual-halberd warrior started, "Why did you let him go?"

"I will not kill a man without a valid reason. Following a tradition isn't a valid reason. It is simply barbaric. I will study upon why this man was sent here. Who knows how many others have been sent here even if they had committed suicide? You can pursue him, but count me out of your barbaric ritual."

"Whatever, let's go Mia," The woman, now known as Mia, nodded as the both of them followed after Damien.

_I ran for who knows how long. I dodged smaller search parties with minor injuries. I wasn't able to dodge attacks the whole time. I took some scrapes from falling and some of the arrows shot at me grazed my arms and legs causing them to burn profusely._

_In the middle of my retreat, a storm blew over me. This caused the search party to retreat, but I was left in the open in a massive storm without any shelter. At this point, I had one arrow pierce my shoulder. It hurt at the moment, but the pain has gone down a bit. Hell, it'll probably come back 10x worse when I pull it out._

_I traveled for a little while longer before the fatigue of no food, water, and injuries caught me. I collapsed in the forest I was in and everything just blacked out for myself. I thought I had finally died for real this time and wasn't going to wake back up. However, I woke back up laying on something rather comfortable. I felt a breeze across my torso along with a tight feeling around it as well._

_My vision was blurry at the moment of waking up, but I saw another silhouette accompanied by the calm gleam from the moon. Once my vision cleared, I saw another young woman with short hair and a towel in hand. She noticed me waking up and smiled. I didn't know what to think. I thought I was at heaven at that given point._

"Good, you're awake..."

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry if I'm startling you right now. You must be confused and possibly afraid..."

"I uh...," Damien looked down at his torso to see it tightly bandaged, "This bandage."

"I managed to take out the arrow with minor bleeding. I cleaned the wound and bandaged it up nice and tight," The young woman took the towel and wiped Damien's face rather lightly, "The bandaged isn't too tight, isn't it?"

"Kinda, but it would have to be to stop the bleeding properly," Damien looked down at the shoulder the arrow pierced and saw a massive bloodstain in the bandaged, "It went straight through."

"Yes, I made sure cut the arrowhead off before pulling it out," The young woman placed the towel back into the large bowl next to them and asked, "You must be hungry and thirsty after running for that long. Are you hungry?"

"Y-Yeah...," Damien attempted to sit up, but he felt a lot of pain in his upper body, "Ah..."

"Don't try to strain yourself," The young woman helped Damien sit up slowly before smiling at him, "Before I feed you, I want to introduce myself," The young woman took a deep breath before responding with, "My name is Mei. My mother and father found you while they were out in the woods. They brought you back here and I was the one to nurse you back to health while they left to find medicinal herbs to use for your wound."

"Mei...?"

"Yes?"

"That's a rather nice name."

"T-Thank you."

"My name is Damien. I'm sure you know why I'm in this predicament."

"Yes..."

"I'm sorry to ask this out of the blue, but why do they dislike someone who reincarnated here by suicide?"

"Uh," Mei stood up and turned around, "Let me get you some food and water. I'll explain then."

"Alright..."

_After_ _Mei_ _brought_ _me food and water to drink, she began to explain the reason behind the tradition of executing reincarnated suicidal people._

"Before we were given the ability to rule over the rule of this world, a council of God's ruled over first. They had a set of rules and beliefs that had to be followed with the utmost caution."

"How did humans gain the right to rule over gods?" Damien questioned.

"The gods gave the right to the current family in power to lead under the condition that those reincarnated here through suicide should be executed and their souls be sent to the pits of hell or possibly reincarnated again here."

"How long has this tradition been followed?"

"For the past 10 millennium, Lord Toshô and his family have followed these beliefs. Many shun the tradition and see it as barbaric and unjust. However, the family doesn't have a choice."

"I see..."

"I know it's a lot to take in..."

"Great, just great...," Mei looked at Damien's eyes as she instantly saw glistens of tears forming within them.

"Damien...?"

"I ended my life solely to stray away from problems and here I am being a burden to the people of a world I never belonged in the first place!"

"No... Damien..."

"I'm just going to live a constant loop of depression and agony because my life is just one big mistake!"

"No!" Mei gave Damien a big hug as she cried into his non-injured shoulder, "Your life has meaning!"

"No it doesn't!"

"Yes it does...!" Mei fell silent as she softly wept. Damien looked down at the crying young woman and the two locked eyes, "Everyone's life has a meaning. They just have to find it with the right people..."

"But I..."

"Damien, your life has meaning. You wouldn't have been reborn here if it didn't. I want you to find that meaning and I want to help you find that meaning..."

"Mei...," Mei have Damien a very warming smile as he nodded with tears in his eyes.

_Over those next 2 weeks,_ _I_ _focused on healing my body and meeting the people of Mei's village._ _The_ _children love_ _seeing_ _me and the elders enjoy my company._ _I've_ _gotten used_ _to living_ _and help out Mei's_ _father_ _on his crop fields._

_Mei and her mother taught me how to keep up with my new long hair along with learning the history of their quaint world. Life was starting_ _to look_ _up for me. Until that day..._

-Present Day-

_That morning, everything was normal. Mei woke me up with the same warm smile she has on her face everyday. Her smile just brightens my day every time I see it._

"Good morning Damien," Mei sat next to Damien as he rose from his futon, "Did you have a good night rest?"

"Good morning Mei. Uh, I did have a good night. My first few days might've been terrible, but these last 2 weeks for me here have been amazing. I have you and your family to thank for that."

"Hehe...," Mei shied away as she fiddled with her clothes, "Thank you..."

"Haha, you're cute...," Damien sat up and start to pat Mei's head.

"Hehe, your hands are surprisingly soft. That's rather odd..."

"One of the elders showed me his ingredients to make some moisturizer. I'll make some for you as I can only make enough for one usage right now."

"That's pretty nice. Oh, have you been studying on the language Cemis?"

_Cemis was the name of the world we lived on. The language of Cemis is rather hard to work around. I can't write it, but I can read it at a basic level and speak at a more advanced level._

"Let me see. Tello, pc nape ij Damien. I lige in hte gillave ow Camtou. Did that sound right?"

"Let me repeat what you said. Ahem, 'Hello, my name is Damien. I live in the village of Camtou.'," Mei smiled and nodded, "Perfect."

"Whew, I can speak it rather well and my reading is halfway decent. However, it'll be a long time before I'm able to write it."

"I'm sure it must be something you aren't used to. How many languages did you know back on Earth? You learned this one rather quickly. I assume you learned others on Earth."

"Not really. I was in the middle of learning some other languages, but uh, you already know what happened. Anyway, shall we get our day started."

"Yup!"

Damien stood up and offered his hand to Mei, "Come on," Mei gladly took his hand as she was helped up by him, "Where are your parents?"

"My father is already in the field and our mother needs us to fetch some ingredients for lunch today."

"Oh okay. So I'm not working in the field today?"

"No, we need to get quite a few things for the next few days."

"Okay. Let me greet your parents for the morning."

"Alright, I'll be getting the basket and waiting outside when you're finished."

Mei left Damien alone as he fixed up his futon. Behind him, a voice called out, "I see you're awake Damien," Damien turned around to see another woman standing at the door of his room, "Good morning."

"Ah, good morning Philia. Your daughter is out preparing for our market trip."

"I know. I just passed by her."

Damien stood back up and stretched, "I was just about to see you so I could say good morning."

"Oh, well, you have now. Hehe..."

_Philia was the mother of Mei and looked rather young despite her age. She was only 41 years old. Mei was my age at 22 and her father, Degory was 48. She had Mei when she was young because of the lifestyle of those in this village. You never know how long you'll live, so many people have their kids early in case they die early._

"I want to thank you and your husband again for showing me such never-ending hospitality."

"No thanks needed Damien. We're just doing what's right. Now run along. Don't keep Mei waiting on you for too long."

"Right," Damien quickly walked passed Philia to meet Mei outside the house, "Are we ready now?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

The two walked down the path from their house and saw Mei's father tending to their crop field. The both of them waved at him while they walked towards the small marketplace their village had.

_Since our village wasn't special, big, or relative in any sort of way, a small amount of merchants would make their rounds every now and some of the villagers setting up small vendors for some of their produce. Whether that was crops, animals, clothing, or even weapons. It was rare to have a weapons dealer in town since our town was very quaint and preferred to stray away from violence._

_However, after my first day here, I purchased a double-edged, serrated sword that I carry everywhere we go. Even into the marketplace. People were afraid at first, but they soon understood my reason. Some of the village children love seeing my sword. The only problem is my lack of experience with a sword. My only experience are what I saw in video games or movies._

"Damien," Mei softly stated, "the air feels... tense right now..."

"I know. I feel it too. The animals seem on edge and the air around us isn't normal in any way..."

"Hey there you two!" One of the shop vendors called out, "It's good to see Damien out of the crop field and here with his wife."

"Now Eleazer, we're not married."

"Really now. She doesn't seem too against the idea," The vendor, now known as Eleazer, pointed over at Mei who was holding her basket tightly with a light pink blush on her face, "Haha!"

"Don't tease her too much. Her heart is just too pure to be teased."

"I'm sorry. It's just that everyone in the village thinks that you two are married and if you haven't, that you should. Sorry."

"It would seem that way because of how much time we spend together and how close we are."

"That's the thing. People can't wait to see the day that you two are finally wedded to one another. Anyway," Eleazer clapped his hands together and asked, "what are you looking for today?"

"Mei?" Damien asked causing her to jump, "What did we come here for?"

"U-Uh...," Mei took a moment to gather her bearing before asking, "Are there any radishes or carrots left over from last season in stock today?"

"Sadly no. The soil recently hasn't been right to plant much."

"Yeah, Degory and I noticed that the soil has gotten a lot less fertile. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the season for a change of crops suppose to come 4 months from now?"

"No, you're absolutely right. It's why it's odd this season's fertile isn't up to par. A lot of our stocks are low because of it."

"First, the animals are acting odd. Then the air doesn't seem right, and now the soil. Something is off..."

"The villagers are predicting a war is coming."

"A war?"

"Yes. The 3 siblings of the current ruler, Toshô are butting heads because of who will succeed their father."

"So a war between the siblings, correct?"

"That's right. The war will be bad for smaller villages like us because we would be in the path of destruction."

"That would be bad."

"Not to mention the unrest between the civilians causing rebellions. There's already been talks of a religious group rising up against them now."

"I heard about that," Mei started, "They wear black bands with red marks on their arms. It's a sign of anarchy."

"It adds up now...," Damien started, "Everything that's been happening, it's all adding up," Out of the corner of Damien's eye, a small glass like object was thrown at them, "Watch out!" Damien tackled down Mei with Eleazer diving away as well.

Once the object exploded, a fire erupted from it, catching the vendor on fire, "My crops!"

"The village is under attack!" As Damien said this, a group of people wielding swords, spears, dagger-axes while others threw those glass objects. The villagers scattered around while the people destroyed the vendors, "Oh no..."

Eleazer looked at the two and said, "You two should head back to your house and secure! I'm heading out to protect my crops!" And like that, he was off.

Damien quickly stood up and helped Mei up, "Let's go." Damien held Mei's hand as he ran with her back to their home. Mei turned back to see the villagers being slaughtered by the armed attackers, "Don't look back. Just keep going!" Damien ordered. Mei quickly turned away as tears slowly started to form in her eyes, "Don't worry. We'll get out of this."

Meanwhile, another army arrived just as the pillagers attacked. It was the same 3 warriors that tried to capture Damien on his first day, "Pillagers...," The dual-halberd warrior gnarled under his breath.

"Damien is suppose to be here," Fabián softly stated, "However, it seems we have more pressing matters."

"You two can deal with the pillagers. I'll look for Damien," Without waiting, Mia rushed ahead with the other two nodding at one another.

"Everyone! Fend off the pillagers!" The dual-halberd warrior ordered as they charged into the fray.

Damien noticed the flags and army in the distance and cursed at him, "Damn it, not them too...," Before they realized it, Damien and Mei were surrounded, "No..."

"Damien...," Mei hid behind Damien as he proceeded to unsheathe his sword.

"I'll handle them. I'll clear a path and I want you to head home. I'll meet you there," Damien looked at Mei from the corner of his eyes and saw her nod, "Good, When I say run, you run, okay?" She nodded again allowing Damien to open her a path, "Well, it's now or never...," Damien charged in and was quick to dispose 4 pillagers opening a path for Mei, "Run!"

Mei ran ahead like she's never ran before, "Hey!" The pillagers yelled, but behind them, Damien took out more of them with ease.

"You're dealing with me first. You can get to her if you survive," And with that, Damien charged into the fray.

Meanwhile, as both the pillagers and the army of Cemis fought on, Fabián had thought in his mind, "Binén..."

The dual-halberd warrior, now known as Binén, turned to ask, "What is it?"

"These bands on their arms," Fabián took out a group of pillagers before saying, "there were talks of a rising pillaging group who were looking rebel against our lord."

"Yes, I heard about that as well. I guess they're starting."

"We'll need to report this to our lord..."

"Yeah..."

Meanwhile, Mia looked around for Damien at lightning speed, "Now where are you suicide kid!" In the distance, she spotted Damien fighting off the pillagers, "Haha! There you are!" However, she stopped to watch him fight, "Hm...," She was rather interested at how well he did fight, "At first, I thought you were just lucky to dodge my attacks, but I see you're no push over...," A large grin grew on her face she jumped with joy, "Fighting you is gonna be a blast!" She jumped from the roof she was on and sprinted towards him.

Damien took out the remaining pillagers around him and saw Mia at the last second. Mia leaped into the air and delivered one fierce blow that Damien easily blocked. The two met in deadlock and stared each other down, "What was your name? Mia?"

"We never told you my name. How do you know it?" The two attacked each other more with each attack being blocked. The two backed away with Mia twirling the sickle around her side.

"I know your name because you're Lord Toshô's top general. However, I won't back down from you Mia. I have people I want to protect. This whole village to protect. I won't let you or these pillagers harm the people I swore to protect."

"Wow, you're more valiant than I thought. It's sad that tradition says I have to kill you. It would've been nice to actually have you on our side. Oh well, have at thee!" The two charged at one another to attack each other more.

Meanwhile, Mei ran into her house and rummaged through their storage closet. She rummaged around until she took out a extremely elegant crossbow, "I'm coming to help you Damien."

"Mei?" Her mother called out, "Where are you?"

Mei looked around to see her mother with her father who had an iron sword in hand, "Mother, Father..."

"Where is Damien?"

"He's fighting off the pillagers. I'm going out to help him."

"Oh no. Let us go with you. We want to help to."

"No, I'll bring Damien back so we can fend them off together."

"Alright, be safe."

Mei quickly ran out and saw Damien in the distance fighting Mia, "Is that... Mia?" She squinted and was shocked to see Mia, "Oh no...," Mei looked off at the village to see the Cemis nation flags flying above, "They're here now...," Mei shook her head and ran towards Damien.

"You're good Damien. I won't lie. It's a damn shame you have to die."

"Not while I'm around!" Mei ran towards them firing countless bolts at Mia. This caused her to jump away just as Mei was back at Damien's side, "Are you okay Damien?"

"I'm fine. Just had to deal with a nuisance."

"Nuisance?" Mia asked with shock, "I thought we were having fun."

"I'm don't know who would get a kick out of fighting and killing someone."

"When you're in this business for this long, you tend to like it. If you continue this way, you'll see what I mean," Behind them, the fight between the pillagers and the army of Cemis grew larger, "However, I must tend to my allies. I'll rid these bandits for you because you've made me a happy girl. See ya'!" And like that, Mia ran off with Damien and Mei staying behind.

"You don't have any injuries right?"

"No...," Damien paused and looked at Mei, "These pillagers. They're nothing but peasants and villagers themselves. They don't have any combat experience and are fighting for a rebellion."

"But..."

"It's the cause of a corrupt government. Not necessarily within the head of the hierarchy, but within diplomats and other various people under the Cemis hierarchy.

"That's...."

"Sadly, this rebellion must be quelled. However, not for Toshô. I could care less about the central government. I'm going to protect our village, no matter the cost."

"But you could only do that if you were to join the Cemis army."

"If that's the case, then so be it..."

"Damien..."

The pillagers began to retreat with so few left from the initial attack. The heard a loud victory cry come from within the village. It was not long after that the army slowly began to make its way towards the two of them, "What do we do?"

"They're not hostile at the moment. Lower your crossbow. Don't act too hasty in front of them...," Binén, Fabián, and soon, Mia, moved towards him as the soldiers behind them surrounded them, "Stay calm Mei...," Damien held his arm in front of Mei and acted as her shield.

"Damien," Binén called out, "After 2 weeks of evasion, we have finally found you."

"Now what? You'll kill me?"

"Under tradition, yes," Damien gripped his sword fiercely as he back up with Mei behind him, "However, we have more pressing matters at hand."

"Huh?"

"These peasants that pillaged your village here. They're part of a rising group known as the Black Oracles. They're being led under a former and corrupt Cemis Official known as Enzo. He and his brother convinced many peasants to rise and we've heard rumors that he has some capable warriors under his employ. After we report back to our lord, he will surely release information on combating this menace."

"What are you getting at?"

"Right now, we shouldn't be enemies. Mia told us about your skills in combat. She says you could proof useful to our lord. We're here to recruit you. This will ensure your safety."

"So if I join the Cemis Imperial Army, I won't be executed because of how I died?"

"That's correct."

"What about my friend here and her family. I can't just leave them here while I fight the Black Oracles. Who will stay here and protect them and my village?"

"That is not our problem. The faster we defeat the Black Oracles, the faster you'll be able to return to your village."

"Damien..."

Damien thought it over as Mei grabbed onto his arm in look of protection. Damien looked at Binén and answered, "Let me talk to my friend here to see what she wants," Damien brought Mei over away from the 3 warriors and asked, "What do you want me to do? I can't abandon you and your family. Especially after an attack like this..."

"But Damien, you won't be executed if you join them. Besides, if you take out the Black Oracle, you'll be known as a hero and the fact that you committed suicide will just be water under the bridge. Take this chance."

"But..."

Before Damien could say anymore, Mei cupped Damien's cheek with her hand, "I'll be fine. I may not look it, but I have some experience with this crossbow. Also, my father is a former soldier. We'll be able to fend off any attacks if we can prepare for it."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. This is your chance to prove something and to clear yourself from execution. Damien, take this chance...," Damien looked down at her and cupped her hand as well with his own, "So what do you say? Will you join in the fight?"

Damien gave a firm nod before turning to the 3 warriors, "I'll fight, but only this one time. After the Black Oracles are dealt with, I'll be returning to my village."

"That is a compromisable offer. Do what you need to before we leave. Say goodbye and pack up whatever you need."

"I really don't have anything other than my sword."

Binén nodded as he ushered two soldiers to bring a horse, "You do know how to handle a horse, right?"

"I had some moments of horseback riding back on Earth."

"Good, come on. Say goodbye to your friend if you need to."

"I will...," Damien turned to Mei and placed his forehead on hers, "So long for now Mei. I'll return to you soon. Then we can live our lives out in peace..."

"I would love that. Please return safely Damien."

"I will...," And with that, Damien left his village to join the fight against the Black Oracles.

About a week later, Damien stood around in a massive camp of some sort. There countless tents and armed people walking around. From time to time, he saw well decorated or vivid people walking around. He stood alone with nobody to really talk to since he's not known due to living in a village during his stay in Cemis. Damien also had an upgrade to his sword and armor.

Damien's armor was light blue to match the color of the Cemis Imperial Army and he had a medium chest and shoulder guards with armguards that were carved to resemble dragons. He also had a headband and a scarf around his neck. His lower half was rather basic with a simple clothed garb with a leather padding around his waist.

"Damien," Binén, Fabián, and Mia walked up to him, "Are you alright?"

"I don't know. I just feel out of place. I don't know anyone here and I just don't feel comfortable."

"You'll be fine. Besides, we have the army you'll be leading into battle."

"Leading? I never agreed to lead one of the forces into battle."

"My apologies, it was a last minute decision. All you have to do is take the forefront with these troops."

"What troops am I leading?"

"You'll be leading the volunteer forces with our lord's youngest daughter."

"How old is she?"

"She's 16."

"Is that the reason he put me at the forefront of the volunteer force?"

"Yes."

"Do we even have any capable officers fighting in the the volunteer force?"

"Our lord's daughter has very little combat experience, but look," Binén pointed behind him, "It seems you have 3 capable warriors now," Damien turned around to see 3 well-decorated warriors being led in by a Cemis guard, "Hopefully they can provide assistance in the war against the Black Oracle."

"Yeah, hopefully..."

However, these same 3 warriors were 3 people Damien already knew. They were the same people with him that day he fell to his death. They were his friends: Allen, Julia, and Alex. They were now in the fray with Damien and he doesn't even know it.


	2. Prologue Part 2

The 3 warriors walked through the camp after being told where they'll be fighting. One of them wielded a large scimitar of some sort and utilized a helped with elaborate armor.

The one to the left of him was young woman with light brown hair and wore a long coat with a tight, cloth battledress underneath with arm and knee guards. She wielded a red bo-staff.

One the other side of the male warrior, was another young woman. She was relatively smaller than everyone and had more skin exposed, but she had a heavy plating around her hip with cloth garb on her torso. She wielded dual-hookblades.

"You know, the camp is huge. A lot of people must want to stop this rebellion," The dual-hookblade woman quoted.

"They're not doing it for good of the land. They all have their own personal agendas in mind Alex," The other young woman stated, "Allen, are you sure we can still take part in this war? What about Damien?"

"There could be a chance Damien could be here," The male warrior, now known as Allen, started, "Besides, you want to find him the most, right Julia?"

The woman, now known as Julia blushed and turned away, "I'm not the only one. We all want to find him."

"Yeah..."

The 3 of them walked to a tent where Damian was seen staring at a large map of some sort. He looked up at them and crossed his arms, "Is that the leader of the volunteer force?" Alex asked.

"I think so."

Damien walked over to them and performed a fist and palm salute to them, "Hello there warriors. My name is Damien and I am the one that will be leading the volunteer group," There eyes shot open as their wishes were granted now that Damien was standing in front of them.

"I'm sure you've been informed on what we're dealing with," Damien moved over to the other side of the table. As he did so, Julie, Allen, and Alex grouped up together and whispered to one another much to Damien's confusion.

"Is that really Damien?" Alex started.

"We can't be so sure if it's our Damien. He looks nothing like him," Allen added.

"But remember, we don't have our look from Earth. This is a completely different look than what we looked like on Earth. See how he didn't even recognize us? I believe this is our Damien. However, we have to play it cool. We can't introduce ourselves just yet. We'll wait for a later moment."

"Excuse me, I'm sorry to interrupt something here, but the lord's daughter will be arriving soon to discuss our role in this war against the Black Oracles."

"R-Right, sorry."

"Alright then, she should be arriving soon," Damien looked over the map again before adding, "Before she does arrive, I wanna know what kind of combat experience you 3 have. You three look to have some training, but looks aren't everything. Look at me, I don't have any training, but I look like I do."

"Oh, hehe, we're the same," Julia answered, "The 3 of us were helped out by a nearby village. We're just... normal soldiers."

"I see. That should be fine. I'm sure most of the people fighting in the volunteer army have little to no training either. The same could be said for the lord's daughter."

"Really?" Allen questioned, "Wouldn't the imperial family have some training in combat?"

"She's only 16. I doubt she has much. Still, we should be able to assist the other armies fighting in this war. Anyway, make yourself comfortable before the lord's daughter arrives. Before you meet her, address her as milady or my lord."

"Uh..."

Before they could say anymore, the flaps to their tent flew open as a young woman with light lavender hair walked into their tent. She wore no armor and wore a light, yet elegant dress.

"Ah, my lord" The 3 of them all saluted the young teen with a fist and palm salute.

"You don't need to look like a bunch doofuses doing so...," Damien shook his head and calmly saluted the young lady, "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance milady."

"You're Damien. The supposed suicider who was reincarnated into Cemis," This caused the 3 to look up at them, "Still, you look to be a someone who isn't sinful. I heard of your feats against Mia and the Black Oracle. I'll be looking to be impressed by you on the field of battle."

"I'll be sure to not disappoint you my lord."

"Please, address me as Alice. I'm not ruler of Cemis yet. It hasn't been determined between my siblings an I on who should be the one to succeed our father."

"Alright, Alice. I was waiting on you to go over where we will be deployed for our first battle against the Black Oracle."

"Where is our first battle?" Alice questioned.

"We'll be moving to defend a stronghold north of the capitol. There seems to be a Black Oracle force moving in rather quickly on their position. However, that's only optional for us."

"Okay, any other deployments?"

"We have an attack on a Black Oracle fortress east of here. This will lead us to the main stronghold of the Black Oracle."

"That's a tempting assault. It'll be able to boost our morale for coming attack. However, I'm assuming we could attack the main fortress ahead of all that, correct?"

"Yes, but that wouldn't be very strategic."

"What do you plan on doing Damien?" Allen asked.

"Yeah, you are the leader of the volunteer force. What do you want us to do?" Julia added, "We're at your command."

"Hm, the most strategic thing to do is to build momentum leading up to our main attack. First, we'll defend the endangered stronghold. Our orders will be given once we arrive."

"Very well then. When do we move?"

"I was told 3 days from now. So you have time to meet with others, rest, or psyche yourself up for the coming battles. That ends our mini council here."

"Before we split off, I'd like to speak with you Damien when you have free time," Alice said, "Is that fine?"

"Yes, just tell me which tent to look for so I can meet you."

"It's the center tent. It can't be hard to miss. The Cemis national flags are posted outside of it."

"Alright, I'll stop by later. I have to talk to these 3 here," Alice nodded and left the 4 alone. Damien walked towards the 3 and asked, "Are you 3 reincarnated people?"

"Huh?"

"It's obvious that you are and I know the 3 of you," They stiffened up as he turned away from them, "Why and how did the 3 of you follow me here?"

"D-Damien, we came here to look for you," Alex responded.

"Why?"

"There's a way for you to go back to Earth," Damien remained silent as he crossed his arms, "All you have to do is head back to the Reincarnation Garden and request to be sent back to Earth."

"What if I don't want to go back?"

"Huh?"

"I don't want to go back. For the first time in my life, I felt at ease. Like the problems of my life were finally gone. I had a great life living in my village. The only reason I'm fighting now is to preserve what little peace my village has left."

"Wait, the peace they have left?" Julia questioned, "What do you mean by that?"

"A few days before I arrived to this camp, my village came under attack by the Black Oracle. Many of my fellow villagers were murdered along with their produce destroyed by those maniacs. I was barely able to survive with my friend and her parents. I made it my obligation to rid Cemis of this Black Oracle menace."

"But..."

"No more buts. What I wanna know is how the hell the 3 of you even got here in the first place. Tell me how you 3 got here."

"Uh... how long do you have?"

"Until tonight. Make it snappy," Damien walked back to the other side of the desk, "Well," He pestered, "I'm waiting..."

"Julia, you tell the story...," Allen added.

"Right. Well..."

-Earlier That Week-

_After you had committed suicide, everyone was stuck in state of grief for who knows how long. Especially the 3 of us since we were the ones who witness you make the fall firsthand. Your family were very distraught. Especially your older sister. She was extremely devastated and shut herself away from everyone._

_Everyone lived this way for a while before a scientist that used to work with the FBI came to the 3 of us with an offer several months after your death. An offer that seemed too good to be true._

Julia, Allen, and Alex walked behind a lab-coat donning man, "Now, this is something that you're willing to do, correct?" The man asked.

"Yes, we're willing to do anything if it means getting Damien back."

"You must care about him a lot to go this far to bring him back to life."

"We all care about him. We tried to prevent him from taking the leap. We just want to see him and convince him to comeback."

"Alright, I've been working on this since he passed. Due to some inside sources, I was able to retrieve his body with only his older sister knowing. I'm currently preserving his body in a biofreezer not far from our current location. The 3 of you will be hooked up to my machine here."

"Are there any physical problems we'll run into while doing this?"

"Well, it's suppose to kill you."

"What?!"

_We didn't know what we were signing up for at first, but the fact of being able to see you again was just too hard to pass up. He updated us on what the plan was when we arrived at his machines._

"You 3 shouldn't be surprised. I've researched this for years even before Damien passed away," The man held a clipboard and began to read off it, "Damien, along with others who pass away aren't sent to heaven, hell, or anything like that. I've come to find out that they actually are reincarnated into a new world known as Cemis. In this world, life is much more simple. There little to no advanced technology. I would say the setting is probably 200-500 AD or later."

"So we won't be dealing with any advance technology like phones or anything, right?" Alex questioned and the man instantly nodded, "So no phones," He nodded again, "No computers...," He didn't even nod before Alex started to list more items that obviously weren't on Cemis, "No more TV. No more getting mail. No more cars. No more planes...," Allen and Julia gave her a straight look and shook their heads, "No more anything?!"

"Alex...," Julia added, "We're living in ancient technology for this world. There won't be anything."

"Oh man...," Alex took a deep breath before shaking herself, "It's for Damien, so the sacrifice is worth it..."

"The reason this machine will kill the 3 of you to be on Cemis. However, there is a way for all of you to come back. It's how you will bring Damien back if he permits it."

"We won't know for sure Damien will be in a large world we know nothing about. How long do we have before we're brought back here?"

"You have as long as you need to. However, you have one chance at this, if you come back here without him, then he's stuck there. The 3 of you have one chance to find him and bring him back to the other side."

"Right. What will happen to our bodies?"

"After you pass on to Cemis, I will preserve your bodies as I've been doing to Damien. Now please hurry. The faster you get to Cemis, the faster you can begin your search for Damien."

"R-Right..."

"I'll be sure to preserve you bodies to how it is currently. If at any point I feel as if you're not coming back, I'll have no choice than to properly bury the 3 of you."

"What if it comes to that?"

"Then you won't be able to come back. If your body isn't properly preserved, you won't be structurally sound to be revived. I'll give the 3 of you about 10 years. You'll understand why I'm giving you 3 so long."

"Wait, what?"

"No time, we have to do this now."

"Wait!"

_We couldn't get a proper answer on why we had so long to look for you. That's what led us here..._

-Cemis-

Julia, Allen, and Alex all awoke on Cemis. However, they didn't wake up in the Reincarnation Garden. They woke up in a forest of some sort, "Ugh...," Julia started, "My head..."

"No kidding," Allen added.

"Is it suppose to give you this bad of a headache."

The 3 of them looked at each other and instantly backed away, "Who the hell are all of you?!" Allen questioned.

"What about you?!" Alex added.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Julia waved her hands in the air and took a deep breath, "I think our reincarnated bodies are different from what we look like. I'm Julia. I'm sure you're Allen," Julia pointed at Allen and he nodded, "And you're Alex," She nodded as well, "Good, we're all the same people with slightly different voices and appearance.

"Man!" Alex yelled, "I'm still short here in this place too! Come on!"

"It's not that bad. It'll allow Damien to identify you easily."

"But look at you. You still have the same face as you did before, but your hair is amazing and your body is slim yet sexy! This isn't fair!"

"Girls, I think we have more at stake than what we look like. We need to find some place to start looking for Damien."

"Right," The two of them answered.

"We'll need to find a village or something."

"We have no sense of direction though. We'll be walking blind for the most part of our journey."

"True, but we aren't going to get anywhere just standing around. We need to go ahead and get a...," Before Allen could finish his sentence, an arrow fly past his face, grazing the tip of his nose, "What in the world?!"

Multiple arrows accompanied by the same people that attacked Damien's village charged at them while the arrows came towards them, "Run!" Julia ordered as they started to run like they never ran before.

"Why are they firing at us?!" Alex questioned.

"They look like bandits!" Allen added, "They're all wearing the same thing!"

"Is this world stuck in some sort of civil war...?!" Julia wondered, "This is just what we needed on our first day here..."

"Keep running you guys!" Alex sprinted past Julia and Allen with ease, shocking the both of them, "Why are you guys so slow?! Put the pedal to the metal!"

"How are you so fast?!"

After running long enough to lose their attackers, they were able to stumble across a village, "Well, we escaped them and we were luckily able to find a village in the process. I think we should look into what's going on first before we start finding Damien."

"Yeah, if we find someone here who seems to know what's going on, then I'm sure it'll make it easier to know of Damien's whereabouts."

_We asked around in the village to figure out why we were attacked by those people and we all got the same answer centered around who we're fighting. The Black Oracles is what we got from the people we asked. We figured out that there was a coalition being created by the ruler of this world in order to combat the menace._

_It was a stretch for us to join the fight because of you. We wouldn't have joined if we knew you weren't here. The only problem was our lack of experience in fighting battles. We may have high-end equipment, but we know little to nothing about combat._

-Present Day-

The 3 arrived at the camp to see such a massive roundup of soldiers, warlords, and warriors from across the world, "Oh man, who'd thought so many people would take up the call...," Allen spoke in awe as he passed by a rather large man carrying a mace.

"And people here are straight up intimidating..."

"We simply have to figure where they'll be putting us. We don't have any particular affiliation, so I'm not sure where they'll put us."

"Probably on the front lines because we're expendable," They were shown to a what looked like a high-ranking officer based on the armor he wore.

"Hm...," The officer thought over, "Since you 3 aren't affiliated with any of the regional warlords here, you'll be serving under the officer leading the volunteer force. The tent you'll meet your leader is just over there," The officer pointed over to the left towards a medium-sized tent, "You'll want to introduce yourself to him."

-Volunteer Force Tent-

"Now we're here face to face with you. I never thought we'd ever find you only 3 days into our expedition."

"Wait a minute. You said I was dead for several months?"

"Yeah. Is something wrong?"

"Guys," Damien started, "I've only been here on Cemis for 2 weeks."

"Huh?!"


	3. Black Oracle Menace

"Guys," Damien started, "I've only been here on Cemis for 2 weeks."

"Huh?!" They respond in unison.

"Wait a minute," Julia began, "It's been a few months since you were last alive on Earth. How can it only be 2 weeks here?"

"I'm not sure. Time moves the same here as it did on Earth," Damien answered, "But look, I'm not going back to Earth. I know you 3 have 10 years on Earth and I have no clue how long that'll be here. Still, if you two have that long to bring me back, then here's my answer to all of you early. I'm not going back. You 3 can head on back. I'm staying here."

"But Damien..."

"No, I like living here in Cemis. Regardless of the Black Oracles. I'm staying here and there's nothing the 3 of you can do about it."

The 3 were speechless at Damien's words. Julia shook her head and walked up to Damien, "If you want to stay, then I'll stay here too."

"What?!" Both Allen and Alex exclaim.

"You do know life here is drastically different than back home, right?"

"I've already come to terms to that. All I wanted was to see you again. Even if you don't look or sound like how you were on Earth, just knowing you're here is more than enough for me..."

Damien shifted his glance over to Allen and Alex and asked, "And the two of you? Are you in the same boat as Julia?"

"Uh...," They respond, "We..."

"Give it thought. I doubt there'll be a way to dissuade us," Damien walked passed all of them and proceeded outside the tent.

Allen and Alex looked over at Julia who had just realized what she said, "Did I really say I would be staying here?"

"Yes..."

"Oh man, why did I say that?!"

"That's your heart speaking for yourself girl," Alex answered before laughing wholeheartedly, "Dude, you straight said that because of your crush on him!"

"N-No I didn't!"

"Julia, that is the only reason you said that," Allen added, "I saw your hands balling up when he said he wasn't coming back to Earth. You didn't want to lose the only chance you had at being with him."

"That might be it. Still, if I really am staying here, I'm afraid for the future. If things are this bad now, imagine what the future may hold for us if things like this get worse."

"We still don't know much about this world and staying here will cause problems for us, but maybe even Damien, who has actually lived here long enough to understand it."

"How could we cause problems for him?" Alex questioned.

"Think about it. He's already lived here for 2 weeks and he already seems to know Cemis like the back of his hand. Who knows how much he actually knows about Cemis."

"If he's our leader, he must be proficient in fighting or strategy calling. He looks like he actually knows what he's doing as well."

"Julia, are you sure you want to stay here with him?"

Julia looked towards the entrance of the tent and then at her bo-staff and nodded, "Yes, I'm staying here."

* * *

Later that night, Julia walked around camp trying to find where Damien's tent would be. He never told her or their friends where his tent would be. She continued walking until she saw Alice standing outside of a tent, "Oh, milady," Julia bowed to Alice, but she held her hand up, "Huh?"

"Please, just Alice is fine thank you."

"This isn't your tent."

"No, it's Damien's tent. He asked me to lend him paper and an ink brush. I'm not sure why though, so I came here to see."

"Have you figured it out yet?"

"He's multi-tasking."

"Multi-tasking?"

"Yes, he's practicing the written language of Cemis, drawing out strategies, and writing a letter to someone."

"Oh wow..."

"He's probably been at it for a while. I gave him the paper and ink brush 3 hours ago."

"Alice, why did you want to meet with Damien earlier?"

"I asked him if he wouldn't mind becoming my personal bodyguard after this war."

"Bodyguard? Is he that proficient at combat?"

"He dueled one of my father's top generals to a stand still and fought off a group Black Oracles alone without a scratch. If it's true that he has no combat experience, then he must be naturally gifted."

"He said he enjoyed living here. Maybe this is all natural to him and nobody even knew it."

"I also talked to Damien about his life on Earth and about the 3 of you."

"Huh?"

"I can see why you like him, but there were obvious signs that should've been addressed."

"What kind of signs?"

"He told me that over the course of a few months before he committed suicide, he started to eat less, had dark thoughts and night terrors. However, he didn't tell anyone so he wouldn't worry anybody."

"I..."

"He said the night terrors got so bad that it messed with him mentally and it led him closer and closer to his inevitable death. He said nothing could help. He said the only thing that kept him going were you 3 and his family. Even so, he still committed suicide," Julia fell silent as Alice continued, "That life he explained sounds nothing like his now. He's told me that all those night terrors and mental scarring were practically gone thanks to a young villager by the name of Mei and her family."

"Is that who he's writing to?"

"That's correct. He told me her kindness and her benevolent, innocent, virtuous heart made him feel at ease. He told me he wanted to protect the smile Mei had everyday along with the happiness of his village. It's his main reason of fighting now. He knows even if we defeat the Black Oracles, there will be another menace ready to rise up due to our unstable government."

"..."

"He told me that even if he was surprised and angry that the 3 of you showed up, he was happy nonetheless. Damien is a kind young man. He just has a hard time expressing his emotions when too much is on his mind."

"Whenever I talked to him, he would always have a smile on his face. I guess that was just some facade he adopted over the course of his life."

"Even if Damien didn't want this second chance, he's using it as means of improving his mental state. He's already on the right path for it. Give it time and you'll see a positive change in Damien."

"I will..."

"Well," Alice sent a glance at Julia and smiled before asking, "shall we see if he is still writing?"

"Huh? I-I'm not sure if we should interrupt him..."

"Nonsense. I just spoke with him just now. You caught me just after I left his tent."

"O-Oh..."

"Now come on," Alice opened Damien's tent, calling out, "Damien, I'm stepping in again," Alice stepped with Julia following after her only for them to see Damien sleeping on his mini table, "Ah, looks like he worked himself to sleep."

"That can't be comfortable for him."

"Well, help me move him onto his futon here," Alice moved to Damien's side and Julia did the same, "On my go. Ready? Go...," The both of them lifted him up and brought him over to his futon at end of his tent, "And set him down," They carefully laid him down and Julia moved in to fix him in his futon, "I didn't think you'd fix him up."

"Well, I doubt he wants to wake up with a messy ponytail and I'm sure he would want to stay warm tonight."

"He never told me, but maybe you can."

"Hm?"

"Was his hair this long on Earth?"

"No, he actually had short brown hair. Not long black hair. That's why it was hard to know if it was him or not."

"It struck me as curious because of how well kept it is. It had me thinking that he had long hair on Earth since it looks like he handles it so well."

"I wonder how does. I don't even think he helped his sister with her hair ever, so it was weird to see how neat his ponytail looked."

"Maybe his friend from his village helped."

"Probably..."

"Hehe," Alice turned around and made her way out of the tent, "I'll go ahead and head off to my tent. You can stay here as long as you want. Still, you should rest up for the coming battles. Plans change sometimes and you never know when we will have to move out."

"Okay...," Alice waved her off and Julia was now left alone with Damien. She watched over him and moved her hand to his head but she hesitated, "No, right now. I have to focus on our battle," Julia sighed and walked over to Damien's desk, "Hm...," She looked at the papers sprawled across the desk, "So many papers and it looks like he used a lot of ink.

Julia picked up each paper and read them over. The papers written in the language of Cemis was something she skipped over, but the ones written in English along with the strategies he had drawn out, "These strategies...," She read one that looked to have a 4-sided fortress, "This one looks like the stronghold that will come under attack. There are 4 gates and he predicts that 3 of them will be surrounded. He wants us to clear the gates before we make our push," He looked over at Damien and smiled, "It's rather basic, but it's good to know he's trying either way. Hm?"

Julia noticed the letter he was writing and started to read it:

_Dear Mei_

_My first day here was as you expected and no, I'm not talking about being discriminated against for committing suicide. I meant the fact that my prowess in battle earned me a leadership role for the volunteer force of our coalition. I'm not sure how smart of an idea it was to let me lead, but what can you do. Also, you aren't going to believe this, but my friends from my past life are here now fighting in the coalition against the Black Oracle and get this. One of them said they wanted to stay here._

Julia paused at that sentence as she knew he was talking about her. She regained her composure before continuing.

_Anyway, I doubt she will stay here. She probably wanted to say that for some odd reason. Oh well, I'll write back to you after our first battle if I make it. I hope this letter makes it back to you._

Julia paused again before balling her hand into another tight fist before tears formed in her eyes, "No... I want to stay... I'm going to stay..."

* * *

-2 Days Later-

2 days after that night, a messenger returned to the camp bearing bad news, "I've come to report that the Black Oracle advanced faster than predicted. They have already surrounded the castle and killed many of our men stationed at their."

"Hm," An older man with the same hair color as Alice nodded.

"Then we must make our move. Glinen, I want you to lead the defense of the castle," The man turned to someone else who resembled Alice. He donned very elaborate armor and a spear of some sort.

"Yes father. Let us move out as soon as possible! We can't allow that stronghold to fall!"

"Brother," Alice started, "may our forces move in to assist you?"

"Alice, the battle will be dangerous and you don't have much battle experience. Are you sure you want to participate?"

"I'm sure. Besides, the leader of the volunteer force was given high regards by Mia. I'm sure we'll perform just fine in battle."

"Hm," Glinen glanced over at Damien who was seen preparing his horse with his friends, "Mia did regard him highly, but he is merely a peasant. We also can't forget that he's a suicider. Are you sure you're willing to trust someone like that?"

Without hesitation, Alice responded, "Of course..."

"Very well then. Just don't get in the way of the main force," Alice nodded and made her way back to Damien.

"Damien!" She yelled.

"Hm?" Damien turned to her and hopped on his horse, "I'm guess this means we'll be moving with your brother, correct?"

"Yes, we better make our move now. They're already moving out."

"Right," Damien turned his horse around and looked at his army of volunteer fighters. Including his friends, he had a total of 5000 people fighting in the volunteer force. Just about most of them were lower-class individuals looking to make a name for themselves, "Everyone! It's time to move out. Just do as your told and you'll make it out alive. Don't try to be a hero. Do what you can for your empire and don't overexert yourself. Under my command, I want to ensure that all of you will make it out of this war alive. Just like all of you, I have people who wish to see me alive after this war. I could care less about fame and fortune. Right now, we're doing this merely to rid the land of this menace."

"Yes," Alice added, "Please, do not try to do more than you can do. Listen to us and we will all make it out alive!"

"Yes!" The volunteer soldiers saluted them fiercely as others around them watched on. Damien and Alice looked at each before nodding.

Julia, Allen, and Alex looked on impressed and shocked, "Do you think that was a fabricated speech from Damien?" Allen questioned.

"Probably, but parts of it sounded genuine. Maybe he's serious about staying here on Cemis," Alex added.

"Of course he is. His letter to his friend in his home village proved it. He's willing to give his life to save this world and those he cares for that live in it. And I'm willing to support him on whatever his choices might be," Julia turned to Allen and Alex to ask, "What about the two of you? Have you two figured out what you're gonna do?"

"I'll give my answer after this campaign. I'm not sure if I want to spend my life in a world I don't understand. Plus, this is a real culture shock," Allen answered.

"Same here Julia. As much as I would like to hangout with Damien again, I'm not sure I would want to stay here."

"Don't worry you two. It's completely understandable. I was giving it second chance after I said I would, but after having a talk with Alice and reading Damien's letter to his friend made me think that if it can make Damien happy, then I'm sure it isn't too bad of a place to live."

"Alright, we won't try to persuade you on going back to Earth. If you're happy here, then we won't forcefully drag you back."

"Thank you."

After about an hour or 2 of marching, they came upon the stronghold already under siege by the black-banded soldiers of the Black Oracle."

"Let's go everyone!" Glinen ordered, "I will clear the enemies from the West Gate and open it. Don't slow us down you two."

"I will move to the East Gate and clear it from enemies," Alice stated before riding off with some volunteer soldiers.

"Then we'll clear the enemies on the South Gate. Come on you 3," Damien rode ahead of everyone. He unsheathed his sword and ran straight through a group of Black Oracle soldiers. He proceeded to slice away at other soldiers while his own allies watched in awe.

"Whoa..."

"Come on!" Damien ordered from afar, "We need to clear the South Gate!" Damien hopped off his horse and went on to fight multiple groups of other Black Oracle soldiers.

"Yeah! Come on everyone! Let's go in and help our commander!" Julia yelled. She charged in with the volunteer soldiers following after her. Allen and Alex chuckled and shrugged their soldiers before joining in the push.

* * *

After 20 minutes of fighting, they were able to successfully clear the South Gate from all Black Oracle soldiers, "Yes. We have cleared the South Gate! Everyone! Split up and assist clearing the other gates!" 

"Where should we go?" Julia questioned.

"Julia, you're with me. I need you two assist Glinen in the West Gate. We'll meet up before we face the enemy commander."

"Alright!" They answered back. Damien nodded at them and they were off.

"Damien, how are you able to fight so well?" Julia asked while they were moving to the East Gate.

"I'm not sure. It sort of just feels natural. I never thought I would be a good fighter. Most of what I'm feeling is instinct. I don't know."

"I feel that too. I may not be as skilled as you in battle, but I can do stuff I never thought I could ever dream of."

"I guess that's part of the reincarnation. Not only does our physical appearance and voices change, but our athletic prowess. The only thing that seems to remain the same is our old personalty from Earth."

"Mhm..."

"It's how I knew it was you 3 so easily. I know you 3 so well and seeing how you all acted when seeing me solidified my guesses."

"Ah. I guess it's not hard to forget us."

"Still, I need to know if you're sure about staying here. It's no guarantee that the chaos will end after we defeat the Black Oracle. It's times like this that will cause others to attempt to rise from the shadows to gain a foothold in this hierarchy," Damien and Julia stopped as soldiers passed them. Damien looked at his sword and then at Julia, "This chaos will go on for who knows how long. I only wish to make sure that chaos doesn't spill into my village."

"Your village. You talk about your village a lot. Is it really as good as you say it is?"

"My village is quaint. Nothing much happens and I love it. Everyone in the village knows each other and everyone cares about one another. However, all of that is gone now. Seeing those villagers murdered during this does things. It does things to an already collapsing mind."

"It must've been..."

"Right now, we need to focus on the battle at hand. Let's go clear that East Gate."

"Yeah, let's go."

* * *

Once the two arrived at the other gate, they saw Alice struggling against the mass numbers of Black Oracle soldiers, "She's in trouble!" Julia pointed out before running in to save her. Damien waited a moment to take a look at the sky. He saw that an isolated storm cloud was moving over the stronghold, "That's odd..."

Inside the stronghold, the man inside the castle grunted as the rain cloud started pour rain and thunder over his army inside, "Hmph, so they decided to summon rainstorm. Haha! What of it?! I too shall join the battle!" The man on his horse started ride out of the castle, but a group of Black Oracles appeared among the heavy downpour.

"There enemy soldiers appearing from the mist!"

Damien heard the commotion coming from within the castle, "So they can use magic. Hmph," Damien looked over at Alice and Julia finishing off the remaining Black Oracles around the East Gate, "Hey! Alice! Julia!" They both turned to him and he yelled, "I'm going over the wall! They managed to get in!"

"How are you getting over?!" Julia questioned.

"Just wait! We're nearly done clearing this gate!" Alice added.

"If we wait longer, there'll be no point in clearing this gate if they die inside!" Damien turned to the wall and psyched himself up, "I'll get up there...," Damien backed up and prepared to run forward, but a group of Black Oracle soldiers, "Damn it."

"Damien!"

The soldiers charged at him, but Damien dodged their attacks and ran towards the castle walls. With his momentum, he was able to run halfway up the wall, shocking everyone around him. In one quick movement, he stabbed his sword into the side of the wall and hung there. Damien looked down at everyone looking at him shock. He took a deep breath before he started to swing himself on his sword.

The momentum he obtained from the swinging allowed him to vault over the rest of the wall with ease. Alice and Julia looked at each other before back up at the castle wall, "I had no idea Damien could do that."

Alice smiled as she turned to Julia, "Damien looks to be the type of man to do something like this. I was quite skeptical at first. A man who seemed to have no combat experience living the life of a mere commoner. And yet, here he is showing his true prowess in battle. His courage is nothing like I've ever seen before and his natural born leadership makes it hard to believe he committed suicide."

"Perhaps his life changed in the 2 weeks he spent here. He told me his sole reason for joining this fight was to protect his village."

"The village of Camtou. A small quaint village known for its villagers to live a simple life. Perhaps the simplicity of this village allowed Damien to mellow out and live a very peaceful life around peaceful people."

"So he wants to maintain that peace, correct?"

"Without a doubt..."

"Hm..."

"We must work together to maintain that peace. Let's keep moving Julia."

"Right!"

* * *

Inside the castle, Damien saw the Cemis Imperial Army fighting off Black Oracle soldiers, "Man. These imperial soldiers really are useless. If they didn't order a call to arms, this empire would be taken down in no time," Damien shook his head and ran right into the fray.

Over at the West Gate, Allen and Alex along with Glinen was able to successfully fend off the Black Oracle at the West Gate, "The enemies at the West Gate have been annihilated! Only the fool who attacked is left! Let's go!" Glinen moved on ahead while Allen and Alex stayed behind to catch their breaths.

"Whoo... I've never done anything that hard before...," Alex stated as she collapsed onto the castle walls.

"Same here. I might've played football in high school, but this is way more intense than that..."

"Running track doesn't even prepare someone for this. We have to find out how these guys condition themselves for this..."

"You think we should regroup with the others?"

"Yeah. Let's head off towards the north gate."

"Yeah..."

* * *

Meanwhile inside the castle, Damien was quick to dispatch the Black Oracle soldiers, "These Black Oracle soldiers aren't even a threat, and the Imperial soldiers can't even fend them off...," Damien killed the last soldier before sheathing his sword, "This is beyond disappointing."

"Ah...," The commander of the fortress stated, "Thank you for assisting us. Huh?" The commander gave one look at Damien and scoffed at him, "Bah! You're just a volunteer soldier and you're the man that committed suicide! You should be thanking me for allowing you to save me!"

Damien shook his head walked passed the commander, "We have a battle to finish."

"How dare you defy me! I am the commander of this fortress!"

"Yeah. A commander who couldn't even defeat a small group of peasants. You were only suppose to be cannon fodder. We wasted our time saving you."

"A-Ah...," The commander was speechless as Damien stepped out of the northern gate. A Black Oracle soldier ran out and attempted to strike Damien, but was countered and instantly killed, "Hmph..."

A few moments later, Damien met back up with everyone else, "Damien!" Julia called out, "You made it."

"Yeah. These soldiers aren't a challenge at all."

"Geez dude," Alex slapped Damien's back with pure glee, "You're not even winded from all that fighting?"

"No. I worked in the fields of my village under the blazing hot sun. This is almost nothing to me."

"Speak for yourself," Julia added, "Alice and I witness you run up a wall, stab your sword into the wall, and vault over it. Are you saying all of that pales in comparison with simple field work?"

"Pretty much."

"Hm," Alice walked up to Damien and observed his body, "Are you even human Damien?"

"I believe I am."

"Haha!" Allen wrapped his arm around Damien and laughed wholeheartedly, "Man, you're crazy. It's good you're on our side and not their side."

Damien looked towards the inclined mountain in front of him and chuckled, "Let's get going. The faster we finish, the faster we can meet up with the main force."

"Right!"

* * *

After countless fighting, the Allied Forces were able to force the Black Oracle to retreat from the castle. Glinen rode in front of everyone and shot his spear up, "We have won this battle everyone! Let out a victory cry!" The soldiers around him gave out a loud cry. However, Glinen noticed in the distance that a Black Oracle soldier was running away. Although he was initially dismissive of them, he realized something about the soldier, "Wait! That is one of the commanders of the Black Oracles!"

"But brother, he's too far," Alice pointed out, "He's out of range for any of our archers. They're not trained enough."

Damien stared at the commander as he ran off. Damien, took a bow and arrow from one of the archers and aimed it at the commander, "Wait Damien," Alice started, "that target is too far for someone like you. Can you even hit that?"

"Watch me...," Damien drew back his bow and aimed it at the Black Oracle commander. Damien waited for the arrowhead to stop shaking and took calm, long breaths. He took one moment to look at his target before firing. Everyone watched on from as the arrow took flight towards the Black Oracle commander.

The commander turned around and was met with an arrow to his chest, killing him instantly. Everyone watched in awe at how easily Damien's shot connected. Damien turned around and gave the archer back his bow, "My friend's mother practiced archery when she was younger. She showed me how to handle a bow," Damien walked off leaving everyone in awe.

* * *

Later that night, everyone returned to camp to prepare for their next battle and to rest. Everyone sat outside their tents eating dinner. Everyone except Damien ate dinner. He was preferring not to eat and only watched others. Glinen walked up to him carrying flask, "Damien," Glinen smiled at him and said, "that was quite the shot you took earlier."

"Well, I took time in that village to make sure I could do some archery. If I'm gonna hunt, I might as well learn how to handle a bow."

"Still, that distance from only 2 or so weeks of training is quite astonishing."

"My friend's mother is simply amazing with the bow. It was good to have her teach me I guess..."

"You know, my other sister is leading the next attack."

"Lilie?"

"Yes. I think you should introduce yourself to her. I think she would like to meet someone of you battle prowess."

"Uh..."

"She's in the tent next Alice. You can't miss it," And like that, Glinen walked off, but only after offering Damien a drink, in which Damien decline. Damien made his way over towards the sister of Glinen and Alice, Lilie and her tent.

* * *

Once he arrived, he called out from outside, "Excuse me?! Master Lilie, are you in there?"

"Please come in!" A voice called back.

Damien moved aside the tent covers and saw a the back of a young woman clad in bright, purple armor. Next to her neatly resting was shield and sword.

Her hair matched that of her siblings. A very light lavender shade with her put up into a rather rambunctious ponytail, "Master Lilie?"

Lilie turned around and smiled at Damien, "So you're Damien. The infamous suicider. Hm. You don't seem like the person who would commit suicide. Neither does your actions support that of a suicider."

"Uh, your brother that it'd be in my best interest to introduce myself to you before our next battle."

"Ah, my brother. He probably said that due to your accomplishments in the previous battle. Not only did you take a man down with a bow from 100 yards, but you managed to single-handily save the commander of that fortress while vaulting over the wall."

"Did your sister tell you that?"

"Oh," Lilie chuckled lightly as she walked up to Damien, "she went on and on when both my brother and her reported to my father. Everyone in that war council room stood impressed at your feats in battle. Including me."

"You aren't going to seduce me are you?"

"Why would ever think that?"

"Well, judging by your actions and your eyes, you've been quite enthralled due to those feats, correct?"

Lilie stood surprised for a moment before laughing wholeheartedly, "Oh my. Haha, you're quite intuitive. Well, I do admit, I am enthralled by you, but I have no intentions of seducing you. But I will offer you to become my husband."

"Master Lilie..."

"Uh-huh. Just Lilie please."

"Uh, Lilie, I don't think offering me to be your husband isn't right since we've literally just met."

"Oh poo...," Lilie turned around and sighed, "I thought having you as a husband would nice. Right now, my father is looking to arrange me in a marriage with a dirty pig in the imperial government."

"And I'm guessing I would be the perfect scapegoat to get out of this arranged marriage, correct?"

"Yes. My siblings agree that this man is nowhere near fit to be my husband. This man is nothing but a dirty pig who only cares about money, wine, and woman. So if anything, I would be added to his collection."

"If I read on your father correctly, he isn't a man would so easily force one his children to marry such a cruel and unjust man. This man must have power beyond even your father."

"This man's family has been friends with ours for years. He wants to keep our close relationship with them and by doing so, their next heir wants to marry me."

"That's not right..."

"Our father has no choice in the matter. He says that the only way I can get out of this marriage is if I find someone myself. Here you are served to me on a silver platter... and I've been declined...," Lilie slowly took a seat on her futon and sighed.

"What if we fake it?"

"That'll never work. We'll have to real ceremony and everything. Faking it would be simply impossible."

"Is there any other way apart from marrying someone else?"

"If I had another way, I would've done it already."

"Hm..."

"I know you wanna help, but there's no other way around. I'll just have to my father delays the inevitable."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help to you."

"It's no problem. Just uh, make up for it in the next battle, okay?"

"I'll give it my all..."

* * *

_Next Time On New World, New Life..._

_"Alice,_ _I'd_ _like your forces to penetrate enemy lines in the east. While Lord Xixax attacks from the west. The rest of the volunteer forces may_ _move_ _as they like."_

_"_ _They're_ _phantoms._ _The_ _things_ _will be a problem if we_ _don't_ _rake care of them."_

_"Judging by their_ _past_ _tricks, there is always some_ _sort_ _of device producing these illusions."_

_"_ _Let's_ _surround the_ _castle_ _now! We'll have this castle down my sundown!"_

_"The final battle awaits. These savages have ravaged this land long enough. The end of this rebellion will end today!"_

_Next Time: Black Oracle Fortress_


	4. Black Oracle Fortress

Several weeks after the previous battle, it was mostly calm. No reports of the Black Oracle changing positions came in. However, Damien wanted to be ready and so he stood along the outside of the camp. He waited for someone to arrive, "Damien," He turned around to see Alex standing at the gate, "how long have you been out here?"

* * *

"When did dinner start?"

"3 hours ago. Come on. You need to eat."

"I'm not hungry," Damien responded, "I just wanna be ready whenever we move out if we have to," Damien paced around the front and sighed, "I just wanna get this over with."

"Starving yourself won't do anything though," Alex walked out and joined Damien, "But being alone doesn't do anything either. I'll stay out here with you while you're here starving yourself. Instead of you being alone and starving, you'll just be starving."

"Do what you want..."

Alex sat behind Damien on the ground and started to munch on her piece of bread, "Man, it's surprising how good and bad this bread is."

"It's what they're giving us volunteer troops. You know we don't get much to begin with."

"Kinda sucks. We're stuck eating this out-of-dumpster food while the higher ups get to have full on meals prepared for them. It just seems a little unfair."

"We're expendable. We're only a group of volunteer fighters. It's not like we're under some warlord or a warrior who's known on Cemis."

"I don't know. You've earned a reputation for yourself."

"I don't know if that reputation is good or not. I can be known for my skill in battle or my suicide. Either way, I don't wish to have a reputation. I just wanna get this war over with."

"I understand," Alex looked at her piece of bread and chuckled, "Is food better in that village you talk about than here?"

"Obviously. Everything there was made with fresh ingredients and with care. Food here is old and rushed because they're on a time crunch. It's only suppose to fill us in order for us to have energy. It doesn't necessarily have to be good."

"Living the life of a full-time soldier must be hard. It would be hard to do that..."

"Which is why I plan on heading straight back to my village after this Black Oracle mess is situated."

"So you really are staying here."

"I didn't stutter when I said I would. Julia is staying as well. Her answer was pretty definite," Damien turned around and sat next to Alex, "I'm still waiting on you and Allen's answer. I assume Julia will head back with me to my village."

"I don't know. This is all a big change. You had time to adjust here. The 3 of us just arrived a few weeks ago."

"I think a few weeks here should be enough. Then again, you guys have been stuck at this camp for the last several weeks."

"Yeah. It kinda sucks being around a bunch of smelly, old guys."

"And what does that make me?"

"You're well-kept. Mei must have helped you keep up with yourself while living here."

"Well, Alice and Lilie help me with my hair every now and then. Julia even gave me pointers on how to keep up with my hair. As for keeping clean, well, my friend Mei helped me there."

"Really? You should show me."

"I can. If you guys stay," Alex looked over at Damien who met her gaze, "I say that because if you guys end up not staying here, then there's no point in showing you and Allen. You won't have a reason to know if you'll be going back to Earth."

"I..."

"I'm not going to lie. I was happy when you 3 showed up, but I wasn't so happy with the reason for it. I've already explained that I want to stay here. I'm more concerned as to why the both of you still here. I already gave my answer and Julia made her choice. This war is dangerous and who knows what other dangers lurk for us in the future. Staying here isn't safe."

"Then why are you staying if you know it isn't safe. Why are you okay with Julia staying here?"

"I can't dissuade her. It's impossible. You know that. You two still have a chance to turn back in case anything gets worse. I already know the chaos won't end after the Black Oracle are finished. Lilie told me about the troubles she faces with her arranged marriage and I don't think that's going to end well."

"Well yeah but..."

"The last thing I want is for all of you to be mixed in all of this," Damien sighed as he looked in front him, "I want an answer. Do you care about the dangers that are to come?"

"Possibly, but...," Alex stood up and moved in front of Damien, "I'll stay!" Damien only stared at her and chuckled, "Huh?"

"Alright then, that's your answer I got. I knew you would, I just wanted to hear you say it," Damien gave Alex a very warm smile that caused her to chuckle back.

"Man. I guess you wanted to hear it personally," Alex took a seat back next to Damien and asked, "Hey Damien, do you remember when I asked you out during sophomore year?"

"Yeah. It was the week before homecoming and I didn't give you a proper answer."

"You said that you would think about it and you never talked about it again."

"I'm sorry," Damien immediately added, "I didn't know how to respond to your confession. You were the first and only person to have asked me out so far. I didn't know how to feel or respond. That's why I told you to wait on a response. I ended up chickening out on responding though. It's one of the few things I regretted after high school."

"Huh?" Alex was genuinely shocked at what Damien said, "D-Damien?"

"I did like you at that time. I wanted to say yes, but I didn't know how to go about it. I thought I would've just fumbled my words and... I don't know."

"So," Alex started, "Do you not see Julia that way?" Damien paused and sighed, "What about Alice?"

"Julia maybe, but Alice is way too young. She's only 16. I'm 24. There's an ethical dilemma there. If I decided to be her husband, it would be known as a 24 year old marrying a 16 year old. On the other hand, I would be marrying into royalty. I don't know..."

"That's the dilemma you're worried about?"

"Yeah. I don't think it's right for an adult to marry a person that is still in their teens."

"And if she was older?"

"Well, it still wouldn't work."

"Huh?"

"My friend, Mei, is someone I'm rather enthralled with. She's been with me since I've been here. She took care of me and we were together so much. I guess I ended up liking her too."

"So your real dilemma is the amount of people you have feelings for. Not only do you like Julia, but Mei as well."

"Yeah. If I end up liking Alice, that'll be more on my plate other than this chaotic world. I don't want to focus on romance at all. I want to focus on quelling the chaos of the land."

"What about me? Those feelings you had in high school. Are they still there?"

"A little. You are a little rowdy, but I love that part about you. It's never dull around you. I guess that's how I connected with Allen so well."

"I remember how close you two were in high school. You two were like brothers."

"We've known each other for years. We first met in elementary school and I think we hit it off right away. We just click like that."

"I see that...," Alex was about to say something else, but someone in the distance could be heard yelling, "Huh?"

"My lord!" A messenger ran up to them breathing heavily, "I have something urgent about the Black Oracle."

* * *

A few moments later, the messenger arrived at the lord's tent with Damien and Alex close behind him, "My lord, the Black Oracle Fortress has dispatched troops to their main base. They have only left a small force to defend. It seems they expect us to take it as they're preparing for the final battle."

"Hm," Lord Tosho responded, "I see. Lilie!"

"Yes Father?!" Lilie walked up quickly and saluted her father allowing him to continue.

"I'll need you to move in with Xixax and some of the volunteer fighters. Whatever volunteer fighters that won't take part in this battle will move with the main force to the final battle."

"Damien and I will attack the fortress with Lilie. The rest of the volunteer forces can move with the main force."

"Very well. Lilie, the force will move out tomorrow."

"Right."

* * *

That next morning, Damien finished preparing himself just as Alex walked in, "Hey Damien?"

"Good morning Alex. I was just finishing up," Damien turned around and stretched, "We're close to ending this rebellion. Then we'll be able to return home."

"Yeah...," Alex sighed and said, "Allen wants to see you before we move out. It's about whether or not he'll stay."

"Part of me knows he will stay and part of me feels like he won't."

"Yeah. Anyway, how are you feeling about these next few battles?"

"The Black Oracle shouldn't be a problem. If everything goes to plan and we ride the wave of momentum, then our victory is assured."

"You'll be heading back to your village, correct?"

"Yeah."

"I'm guessing Julia will go with you too, right?"

"I would assume so. And you? You already told me you were staying. Are you gonna come with us to my village?"

"Probably. I don't know this world all too well," Alex turned away and said, "What if the chaos continues?"

"If it continues, I'll fight to end it..."

"For who?"

"Huh?"

"You can't fight alone. You're not allied with anyone. You can't expect to fight the chaos alone, even if you have us with you. I know you care about your village, but have you thought about Alice's offer to be her bodyguard."

"Why? I have my own problems I have to assess in Camtou before I have to worry about being her bodyguard."

"Well, I don't want to alarm you, but I was thinking of joining the imperial army."

"Huh?"

"If I wanna get stronger and be with other strong warriors, then the imperial army will give me a chance to do so," Damien looked away with disdain as Alex continued to explain herself, "As much as I would love to stay with you and Julia, this would benefit me more. I'll stay here, but I'll be enlisting into the imperial army."

"I uh..."

"I'm sure we'll see each other again. Just not as much as we both wanted," Alex sighed as she walked up to Damien, "Don't worry Damien. I don't want to see you pained."

"Well, I guess you will be here and I'm sure we'll see each other if another call to arms is called upon," Damien held his fist out and said, "So for now, let's savor the moment we have during this war."

"Right," The two fist bumped and smiled at one another.

* * *

A few moments later, Damien walked to Allen who was seen brushing his horse, "So you're getting accustomed to the life of a soldier huh?"

"Huh?" Allen turned around and chuckled, "Yeah. I kinda am. Also, I'm guessing you're thinking about my answer, right?"

"Of course. Alex just told me she's joining the imperial army after all this. What do you plan on doing?"

"Uh," Allen sighed and turned to Damien, "It took some time for me to think about, but I'm with Alex on joining the imperial army. I talked to Tosho about enlisting for his personal army, and he granted me my request."

"So you're taking that route too? Man..."

"But dude, think about it. We're more than likely to fight together again. Lord Tosho has already predicted so."

"But what about your girlfriend back home?"

"She'll just have to find someone else," Allen placed his scimitar on his shoulder and scratched under his nose, "Besides, I think I'll have to focus on nothing more than battling now."

"I told Alex the same thing last night. She was telling me about how I asked her out and wanted to know if I hold feelings for Julia or even Alice."

"Don't worry. She told me. It's the reason I'm focusing on battle now," Allen sighed as he turned towards his horse, "I'm sure we'll see each other again soon after this war. You can bet we'll see each other again," Allen held his fist out after turning halfway to Damien, "Like old times?"

"Uh, alright, but it's only the Walk To Remember handshake," Damien and Allen proceeded to perform the Walk To Remember handshake, "Haha," Damien smiled afterwards and added, "When we do it, we're always fire."

"Damn right we are. Anyway, I think you should move out with the force attacking the fortress."

"I was. Alex just told me you wanted to see me," Damien waved Allen as he moved to push the fortress.

* * *

Moments later, Lilie, Alice, Damien, and the large man from early in their adventure, Xixax, led an army of 15,000 to capture of fortress controlled by the Black Oracle.

"What should be our plan of attack?" Alice questioned.

"Alice, I'd like your forces to penetrate the enemy lines from the east while Lord Xixax attacks from the west. The rest of my volunteer forces may move as they like," Alice and Xixax nodded as Damien continued, "There also seems to be an empty stronghold that the Black Oracle abandoned when they sent some troops to their main base."

"We should establish a foothold so we can have a definite position against the Black Oracle," Xixax offered, "From there, we can spread out and attack them."

"Yeah. Alice, I'll need you to move in with Lilie to capture that stronghold," Damien ordered, "Lord Xixax and I will move our forces to the west and begin our attack from there," Alice and Xixax nodded once more. Damien turned to Lilie and said, "You'll be taking position in the stronghold and advance when both paths are cleared and when we have the castle surrounded."

"Alright. Let's move quickly so we have time to assist the main force."

"Right!"

* * *

After an hour or so of travelling, they stumbled upon the battlefield. In front of them was the path leading to the stronghold along with a branching path.

_Rough Drawing of Battlefield (Drawn By the writer):_

"Let's break off here. Lilie, stay put here until Alice gives the signal that the coast is clear in the stronghold," Damien ordered, "Lord Xixax and I will move to the west and make our way towards the castle there."

"Alright, be safe everyone," And like that, they were off.

Alice met a small group of Black Oracle soldiers defending the gate to the stronghold, "Such a small force. It's like they don't even care about their own men...," Alice halted her advanced due to the small force of peasants they were fighting. This caused the forces morale to fall slightly.

* * *

In the east, Damien and Xixax used the momentum from their numerical advantage and quickly pushed inside the garrison in the east. Their morale was rising continuously and it seemed they would push the stronghold rather quickly. However, something halted their forces.

As the soldiers were fighting, small groups of translucent men appeared. One of the allied soldiers moves into attack, but as he swung his sword, he went right through them, "What is this?" The translucent man turned around as another soldier attempted to swing, but their sword went straight without dealing damage, "What is happening?!"

The translucent man slowly started to walk towards the soldier in the ground, No! Get away from me! Ah!"

Damien watched on from atop his horse and observed, "They're phantoms. Things will get difficult if we don't take care of this."

"Judging by their past tricks, there always has to be some sort of device producing these phantoms," Xixax pointed out, "I'm sure those devices conjure these phantoms."

"I'll take care of them." Damien yelled, "You and your men try to deal with the real soldiers" Xixax nodded as Damien rode off to take care of the devices producing the phantoms.

* * *

Meanwhile, Alice's forces were still in halt as she contemplated whether to push the stronghold or not. Behind her, Lilie along with her army joined her, "Alice, what's going on?" Alice pointed at the gate in front of her, "Huh?"

"They're just peasants and they're outnumbered. I know they don't want to fight and I don't want to fight them. Isn't there any other way to handle this?"

"I don't know, but you're right. The morale among the Black Oracle right now is low. With most of their allies abandoning them right before we pushed would cause their troops to show distrust with their leader and to fear what's to come of them once this is all over."

"Perhaps we can persuade them to join us."

"We can attempt it, but if they retaliate, we'll have no choice but to put them down."

"Right...," Alice and Lilie slowly made their way to the front of the gate where the small group of Black Oracle soldiers cowered the closer they got. Alice held her hand up to help ease them, "No, please don't fear us."

"Why shouldn't we?!" One of them yelled, "You Imperial Army tyrants will execute us! All of you higher class look down on us and treat us like dirt!"

Alice looked over at her sister as she moved ahead, "Not all high class officials are the same," Lilie slowly moved forward and sighed, "I do know that there are very corrupt officials. I know one all too well," Lilie looked down towards her sword and shook her head, "But I know there are other high class people who are genuine and wish to put the people first."

"My sister is right," Alice continued, "We understand that you're dissatisfied with our kingdom. We know that you are, but creating this amount of chaos won't solve your problems. If anything, it'll only cause others to suffer greatly."

"W-We..."

"Please, leave the barbaric ways of the Black Oracles and join us!" Alice ordered, "We'll change this land together!"

The Black Oracle soldiers looked at each other and nodded, "Yeah! All hail Lord Lilie and Lord Alice! All hail Lord Tosho!" The Black Oracle soldiers in and around the stronghold surrendered and joined the Allied Forces.

* * *

Meanwhile in the garrison in the east, Damien finished off the last device producing the phantoms, and the phantoms slowly started to fade away, "We have foiled their tricks! Move forward!"

"Right!" Xixax yelled back, "Let's surround the castle now! We'll have this castle down by sundown!"

"Wait!" Some of the Black Oracle soldiers pleaded, "Spare us please! Let us join you!"

"Hm?" Damien looked down at the soldiers as Xixax rode up to him, "What should I do?" Damien questioned.

"Knowing how their allies abandoned them here, it would seem that they would be willing to join our army."

"Hm...," Damien rode pass them saying, "If you wish to fight for the Allied Army, then be my guest. Just don't get in my way," Damien sped away ahead of everyone to advance towards the castle.

* * *

In the west, Alice pushed forward with her army while Lilie stayed back in the stronghold, "Now all we need to do is surround the castle. With the momentum we have now, there'll be no stopping us," As her army pushed up a mountain path, a strong gust of wind impeded their advance, "What?" The wind was so powerful, it pushed soldiers back and even some off their feet, "Where did these gusts of wind come from...?"

At the top of the mountain, a Black Oracle general stood with sorcerers at his side laughing, "You may have pushed this far, but these winds shall push you infidels back from where you came from! Now! Send the rocks to finish off these imperial scum for good!"

From out of nowhere, large boulders began tumbling down, "Oh no! Watch out for the boulders!" Even so, the boulders came down quickly due to the increased wind speeds and were taking out their troops, "What do we do?!"

"My lord!" One of the former Black Oracles yelled, "There is a second path way, but it's on a cliff. If you give us time, we can build a way up there and we can flank around."

"If that's the only way, then please do so quickly," With a slight decrease in morale, Alice's volunteer forces were at a standstill due to the rocks.

* * *

In the east, Damien and Xixax were already working on taking out the enemies around the castle. Most Black Oracle soldiers defected while others simply ran from battle. As Damien fought off some Black Oracle soldiers, he noticed that Alice's forces have yet to arrive, "Where are Alice's forces?"

"Perhaps they're held up," Xixax answered, "There is a path that leads to the stronghold just over there," Xixax pointed towards a path leading from the west and added, "You push from there and my forces will clean up around here."

"Right," Damien advanced towards the flank of the path while Alice moved along the mountain pass once a passage way was created by the Black Oracle soldiers.

Alice led a small group of soldiers to catch the enemy army off-guard. All the while Damien's army moved in from behind to do a unplanned pincer attack. Alice's army and Damien's army met the Black Oracle soldiers at the same time sending them into a state of panic and confusion.

Alice and Damien noticed each other and made a path to each other. Once the two met they smiled at one another, "Did we plan this pincer attack?" Alice questioned.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that we did plan this," Alice chuckled as she looked at Damien from her horse, "Well, once we clear this path, it'll allow us to properly surround the castle."

"Right, let's get moving."

* * *

Moments later, Lilie joined everyone in front of the castle that was surrounded on all sides, "Looks like we made up some amazing time despite some minor setbacks. All we have to do now is conquer this castle."

Just as Lilie said this, the castle gate opened with someone running out. It was a high ranked Black Oracle general, "Please!" The man yelled, "Please stop! We surrender!"

"Ha!" Xixax shouted, "What poor excuses for soldiers!"

"Technically they aren't soldiers," Alice interrupted, "They're just mere peasants angry at a corrupt government..."

"Still," Damien began, "they caused harm to so many others. Innocent people who suffered just as they did. I can understand the unrest, but to pillage villages and murdering other innocent people is beyond forgivable."

"We're sorry!" The Black Oracle officer pleaded, "We hadn't meant to pillage those villages. My brother ordered us to do so!"

Damien jerked his head and glared and the man, "Where were your pillages?" Lilie ordered, "Answer me!"

"Ah! We pillaged villages in the northeast!"

Damien's head jerked up as Lilie continued, "Those are people in your region. How could you be so cruel as to pillage and murder the innocent people you're trying to protect?"

"I-It was my brother. He lost control of power and ordered us to!"

"You could've denied his request..."

"I couldn't or he would've...," Before the man could finish. Damien swung his sword and beheaded the man. Everyone turned to him in shock as he whipped his blade in the air to clean the blood off.

"Damien...?" Alice softly muttered.

"He was the one that attacked my village, killed my friends there, and caused distressed to those who survived. He deserved to die."

"But Damien...," Alice muttered, but before she could continue, Damien started to walk off.

"Let's meet back up with the main force. We need to end this once and for all..."

Everyone watched on as Damien walked away. His change in personality was something to account for in the future.


	5. Black Oracle Rebellion (BOA Finale)

A few days later, the army met up with main force and camped near the main fortress of the Black Oracle. Alice, worried about Damien's personality change, wanted to talk to Julia about the sudden change Damien had.

"Julia?" Alice called out to Julia who was talking to Alex and Allen, "Oh you're all here. Uh, may I talk to all of you for a moment?"

"Uh, sure." Alice looked away with Julia asking, "So what's on your mind?"

"It's about Damien?"

"What about him?"

"The other day after we took down that Black Oracle Fortress, Damien had quite the frightening change in personality."

"What happened?"

"We were confronted by the commander of the fortress who surrendered once we surrounded it. We soon found out he was the one who was ahead of all the pillages conducted on the villages. Including Damien's village of Camtou."

"I already know where this is going." Allen interrupted, "Did he react negatively?"

"He beheaded the man..."

The 3 stood speechless at what she told them, "No." Alex softly muttered, "He wouldn't do that would he? That's not something he would do..."

"His expression was that just of anger. Nothing but rage and fury was on his face after beheading that man. I understand he caused destruction, but to do it on an unarmed man who willingly surrendered and showed remorse... it's hard to believe..."

"Milady," Julia started, "I'm sure Damien had his reason to do what he did. Remember, he lost many friends while others suffered when they pillaged his village. I'm sure he was just enraged at that given moment. I'm sure he's remorseful for what he did."

"I hope he is. I'll go check on him." Alice started to walk off, but Julia stopped her.

"We'll go with you. Just in case you know."

"Alright..."

They arrived at Damien's tent to find him writing, "What do you need?" He answered without looking at them, "If it's nothing important, please leave my tent."

"Damien," Alice began, "the way you killed that man the other day was completely uncalled for?"

"Was it? Or was I doing something that would've happened regardless if he surrendered." Damien put his brush down and stood up, "At that moment, I felt anger, hatred... all I could see in front of me was a broken man who held no place in this current society. Our society in Cemis already deemed him a failed threat. Someone who may not seem like a threat, but is someone who has already been given up on by the people who used to trust him."

"But Damien, it wasn't your place to kill him in cold blood." Julia retaliated, "He surrendered. That's where you should've put away your sword."

"You wouldn't understand. You haven't lost anything significant. "And before Julia could say anything else, Damien interrupted, "And don't you dare say me. I'm still here. You did what you could to see me. To get me back into your lives. Those people in my village now have to suffer without their loved ones who were murdered by these bandits. They preach peace but bring about chaos. They deserve what's coming to them. I'll end their petty little rebellion in this final battle."

"But Damien, that was an uncalled for execution. Lord Tosho would've been able to handle without you needing to do anything." Allen adding, "You can't take matters like that into your own hand."

Damien still didn't look at them while looking at his desk, "If they want mercy, then they must show mercy to the weak they're killing. They aren't looking for mercy. They're looking to kill. So I'll be doing the same."

"But Damien..." Alex started to walk up to Damien, but he finally turned around, "Uh..."

"If you have nothing more to say, then leave my tent. I'm in the middle of something right now..."

"But Damien!" Alex yelled, "What happened to you? There has to be more than that he was the one behind those pillages. What else happened in that head of yours?"

Damien looked Alex in her eyes before looking at everyone else, "None of you were there that day. The destruction and the death. For the 2 weeks I was in Camtou, I felt safe. Away from the dangers of being a suicider. But that day came when my village was nearly burned to the ground. Much of the livestock, crops, and vendors were destroyed. Over 75% of my fellow villagers were cut down by these maniacs. My own friend, Mei, was in danger as well as her parents. I want this pointless rebellion to end and if it means that I have to cut down the ones responsible, then I won't lose any sleep at night for doing so."

"Damien..."

"If that is what you wish." Alice looked Damien sternly before turning away, "I understand there is no other way to dissuade you from acting the way you do. Do as you wish Damien."

"M-Milady!" Julia, Allen, and Alex all chased after her only after giving Damien one more glance to see him placing his head down and failing to meet their split-second gaze, "Milady!" Julia yelled once more, "What happened to you in there?"

"I'm just allowing him to do as he pleases. We're just wasting our breath trying to converse with a brick wall."

"But you're not gonna even say anything?"

"I didn't need to. I have no need to. Look, just get some rest, and what he does will have its consequences. Just go on please." Alice left them on their own.

Julia shook her head saying, "She doesn't like what Damien said, but she can't do anything. We can't even do anything. We just have to accept the fact that Damien is a whole different person here on Cemis. We just have to accept it."

"I think we noticed his change too. We just didn't want to accept it." Allen added, "To think that the guy we all knew before has become someone who could be even more broken than we knew."

"Allen," Alex started, "Didn't you know about his depression before his suicide?"

"Yeah."

"How long did deal with this?"

"I'm not even sure. I realized that something was wrong with him in high school. I don't know what triggered his depression though. I've tried to figure it out and have him talk it out with me, but he hasn't told me exactly what caused him to be depressed."

"I wanna find out why he became depressed." Julia stated.

"But Julia, we shouldn't intrude too much on him. Remember, it might be something he doesn't want to bring up. Let's do what as he wishes. He wants to end this rebellion just as much as anyone so he can return to his village."

"I guess."

"Let's just rest up before our final battle."

"Right."

* * *

Nearly another month passed before the signal to launch the assault on the main was given by Tosho. Glinen was made the commander of the battle with Xixax, Lilie, and the volunteer forces making their move.

"Alright!" Glinen started while every was situated in a garrison near the Black Oracle's main castle, "This is where this sorry attempt at a rebellion ends! Xixax, your forces will move up the west mountain path!" Xixax and his men saluted while Glinen continued, "Lilie, you will move your enemy to the east while the volunteer fores will defeat the enemies in the middle and meet with the other two forces."

Everyone else saluted and moved to their positions. Damien was in front of everyone with Alice, Julia, Allen, and Alex atop of horses behind him. A few moments later after glaring down the battlefield, Binen, Fabian, and Mei joined them.

"Are you 3 joining us?"

"Yes." Binen answered, "We were suppose to stay back with Lord Tosho, but we requested him to send us with you and the volunteer forces. There's no problem with that, right?"

"Not unless you get in my way," Damien rode forward saying, "If you stay out of my way, you'll be fine." Damien proceeded to ride off at blazing speeds leaving everyone else behind.

"He's gonna get himself killed charging in like that." Fabian stated, "What's wrong with him?"

"No use trying to figure out. Let's go!" Alice was next to charge forward while everyone sat back.

"Well, it seems like those two aren't doing well," Mia stated with a chuckle, "Did Damien say something milady didn't like?"

"Well, you heard about him beheading someone, right?" The 3 warriors nodded at Julia's question, "Well, Alice didn't want Damien to do that, but Damien was dead set on doing what he wants to the Black Oracle regardless if they surrender or not. Alice, knowing she can't dissuade him, is allowing him to do as he pleases. But it's obvious she doesn't like it."

"Ah." Binen nodded adding, "Alice isn't like her siblings. Glinen and Lilie congratulated Damien for his actions in that battle. Alice is someone who prefers to do the wrong thing in favor of the people. Like refusing to execute someone."

"Her family must've ruled the land with an iron fist in order to keep their power." Allen added while watching Damien, Alice, and the rest of the volunteer soldiers fighting off the Black Oracle soldiers.

"They also had their alliances." Fabian started, "They have ties with many other warlords and families of Cemis in order to keep their power. Nobody can do anything due to Tosho's military power along with his political prowess."

"That sure says a lot about this rebellion. They wanted to overthrow the hierarchy." Alex sighed and looked at the 3 warriors, "We don't much about Cemis and it's political upheavals, but this situation afterwards needs to be checked into."

"Alex is right. If something led to a rebellion of this magnitude, then something needs to be dealt with."

"Well," Mia stretched greatly and laughed, "let's deal with that after we take care of this rebellion!" Mia followed Damien and Alice into battle with the others joining her.

At the top of the mountain in the middle of the battlefield, a man stood at the top. Damien noticed this and pointed it out, "There's a man at the top there!"

Julia looked up and saw the man too, "Can you hit him from that far?"

"Not a chance. That shot I took last month was around 100+ yards. That's easily several kilometers and that's not even counting the wind speed and drop. There's no way I can hit that."

"What is he doing?"

"Whatever it is. It's not gonna fair well for us."

"Fools!" The man shouted, "You do not believe in our beliefs! You foolish followers of Tosho shall meet your demise!"

Just a few seconds later, massive boulders began to drop from the sky at blazing speed. One came right over Damien and Julia, "Watch out!" Damien pushed Julia out the way before moving away himself.

The boulder shattered into multiple pieces as it collided with the ground. All around him, more boulder began to fall, crushing some of their volunteer comrades, "Oh no..."

"We need to take him out to stop these rocks."

"But how are we gonna get to him?"

"I can get up there." Mia offered, "That's what? A few miles up? Ha, that's child's play. I'll be back in no time." Mia leaped high from the ground, "Keep these guys busy in the meantime!" She ordered while already several yards in the air.

"Wow..." Julia stated in awe.

"Julia, do you think she's from Earth?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Her whole demeanor. It just screams a former Earth... person. Like she died and was reincarnated here."

"Hm, now that you mention, she doesn't seem as formal as someone like Glinen or Fabian. I understand what you're saying, but right now," Julia looked around as a group of Black Oracle rebels surrounded them, "we have to focus on these guys."

"You don't have to tell me twice," And with that, Damien was right back to taming out more rebels.

A few moments later, the rocks stopped falling with Mei appearing near Damien and Julia, "And that takes care of that."

"It must've been easy huh?"

"Without a doubt. He didn't even put up a fight."

"Alright. Allen, you head to the West with Alex, Binén, and Fabián. The rest are with me to advance towards the east," Everyone nodded and moved to their positions. Damien rode ahead with Alice close next to him. She glared at him from behind to which Damien responded asking, "If you have something to say. Say it now or forever hold your peace."

"That's what you say during a wedding ceremony."

"Look," Damien slowly stopped with Alice stopping next to him. He signaled everyone else to move on ahead as he turned to Alice, "I understand my actions and ideals aren't exactly what you're looking for. Especially if you're looking to make that person your bodyguard."

"Damien, I know that what you're doing is merely for your own closure, but for it to be that barbaric..."

"What happened after that battle is something I do feel remorse over it, but do I regret doing so? No, I don't." Alice looked away with Damien taking one look at his sword, "I'm sorry for what I did. Despite being commemorated by your siblings and your father, I understand that it upset you and my attitude towards you didn't make it any better. Please, milady, I ask for you forgiveness..."

Alice looked at him from the side saying, "I thought I told you and your friends to call me Alice when nobody else is around."

"Huh?"

"All of you still address me as 'milady' and I don't want that. Please, just refer to me as Alice."

"Uh, does that mean I am forgiven?"

"For now, but I still want you to consider becoming my bodyguard."

"Hm." Damien turned towards the front of them chuckling saying, "If you can find a place for my friend and I in that capitol of yours, then I will forever be your bodyguard."

"H-Huh?!" Before Alice could get Damien to explain more, he was already off riding towards the east, "H-Hey! Don't ride off without me!" Alice chased after Damien to catch up with him all while growing a small smile on her face.

Eventually, the two force took their positions to the west and east to wait for their signals. Damien's side met with Lilie who waited for them, "Hey there." She waved, "I'm glad you're all still alive."

"What are we waiting on?" Damien questioned.

"We're waiting for the force behind us to push up." Lilie explained, "I know you want to push ahead Damien, but we're planning to attack their main camp from 3 sides. Their lack of numbers will make capturing their main camps easier. It lowers the risk of casualties within our own army."

"It's bad to remain in one area if they know black magic. If we remain stationary for too long, they'll use it against us."

"It just matters on what they do to us."

"A lot of their magic is based off the elements. Like let's say the rocks from earlier. Judging by this area," Damien looked around and sighed, "They might try and use wind to push us back."

"Or more boulders due to the slope." Alice added, "It's best to remain cautious and send in a recon unit in case they try something."

"Very well then. We need a small force to move on a reconnaissance mission now!" Lilie ordered, "Report back as soon as you can see any suspicious activity from the Black Oracle!" A group of soldiers nodded and marched ahead.

"Our allies in the west might have a problem there. We can only hope for the best."

* * *

In the west, Alex flipped over a soldier and kicked him into another group of them. Allen leaped over her and killed them, "This is way too easy." Allen stated as he chopped down more soldiers, "Still, we can't let our guard down. They have strength in numbers."

"Battles aren't won through numbers. Lots of past battles have been won without a lot of soldiers." Just as Alex said this, a loud explosion sounded from inside a nearby stronghold, "What the?" Alex and Allen ran inside to see geysers shooting out boiling water at dangerous speeds, "Geysers?"

"It's like mini cannons."

"Someone has to be causing this." Alex looked ahead and saw a man at an altar of some sort chanting, "There."

"Hm?" Allen looked where Alex pointed and saw the man too, "I'll take care of him. You just uh..."

"Dodge the geysers?"

"Yeah." Allen sighed and ran ahead while dodging soldiers and geysers. Once Allen reached the man, he wielded a glaive, "Uh. Hey!"

"Foolish follower of the Matet, can't you see that the Matet legacy is finally failing?"

"I don't know what nonsense you're going on about, but all I see is you and this army ruining the lives of the innocent."

"And you don't think this Matet Family Government hasn't? You're more foolish than his daughter."

"Which one exactly?"

"Alice Matet. That foolish young daughter thinks she can restore the great glory of her family by using benevolence. She is nothing but a naive kid living in a fantasy."

"Look man, I'm tired of hearing you talk so." Allen swung his blade, but it right through the man, "What the hell? Hey man, that's cheating."

"You're no more a kid than Alice." The man spoke from above Allen. Allen looked up to see the man creating a massive fireball in his hands, "I'll be glad to see you all burn before glory of the Black Oracle!"

"Not if I can help it!" Alex leaped into the air and pulled the man down with her hookblades, "You're turn Allen!"

"Right!" Allen leaped into the air and said, "You're time is up!" Allen's scimitar proceeded to glow a bright blue aura as he flipped and brought his blade straight through the man, slicing him in half. Allen looked at his scimitar for a second and shook his head, "Wow..."

"Most of the people we've been taken out haven't really set in for us."

"Not until now. War is such a fickle thing." Allen sighed and ran off, "Let's go. We have no more time to lose."

"Right."

* * *

On the other side of the battlefield, the recon unit has yet to return and Lilie grows impatient, "Where is that recon unit?"

Damien looked ahead and noticed something in the distance, "Julia," He called out. Julia walked up to him and pointed at a silhouette in the fog, "You see that right?"

"Yeah."

Damien snatched a bow and an arrow from an archer. He picked up some grass and dropped it just as the wind blew, "Periodic breezes. North. 7mph." Damien drew his bow and said, "Easy shot." Damien let go off the bow and the arrow flew at high speeds. Pierced flesh echoed around them followed by a rough thud, "Time to push Master Lilie."

"Oh wow. I noticed that silhouette. Good job Damien." Lilie praised Damien, but stared at him for a second. She was impressed, but also fearful of the suicidal man. "Let's go!" She ordered, "We've wasted enough time waiting here!"

Lilie's forces advanced past Damien who handed the bow back to the archer he took it from. He turned to Alice and Julia who stared at him in awe, "How did you know that was a real person and not just an illusion?"

"I noticed their movements. An optical illusion is what they planned. Placing fake silhouettes around the fog was their plan. They catch us off guard and ambush us. The one controlling the fog was that one silhouette." Just as Damien said this, the fog around them cleared revealing cowering soldiers.

"Wow." Alice softly commented in awe, "Are you sure you don't have experience in any of this."

"It doesn't take experience. It just takes an observant and a prepared mind. Remember. No weapon is better than a prepared mind. Let's get moving. The faster we deal with the Black Oracle leader, the faster we can head home and relax." Damien advanced ahead with Alice and Julia following behind.

The two armies eventually met up and prepared their final push to the leader, "We have waited months for this moment!" Tosho rallied, "Let us end this rebellion once and for all!" The coalition advanced towards the leader and killed off or captured Black Oracle soldiers one by one.

Damien however rushed for their leader. Once he approached their leader, he didn't face, "You poor fool." The man turned around and revealed himself wielding a staff similar to Fabian's, "Do you really think ending my rebellion will end the suffering of the people?"

"All wish is to make you pay for making my village suffer from your attacks. Not just mine, but others as well. This is where you get your justice!"

"Hehehehe! Try if you must your diluted fool! Come and see if you can best me in combat!" Eruptions of fire attacked Damien one by one, not giving him a chance to even attack the leader of the Black Oracle, Enzo.

"Come on. Something has to be controlling this..." Damien continued to dodge both the eruptions and Enzo's attacks until he noticed 4 large pots across the corners of the altar, "Julia! Allen! Alex!" He yelled out, "Take care of those pots!"

The 3 of them noticed the large pots and moved to destroy them. Damien continued to by them time by dodging the eruptions and take shots at Enzo while he was distracted. Eventually, the bots were all destroyed and the eruptions ended, "No! This must be a test from the almighty!"

"Shut your mouth you crazy, old man!" Damien took one jab at Enzo and his blade went straight through him, "Your time of rebellion is over."

"Haha. Do you really think killing me will end the chaos? Someone else will rise up and cause more havoc. Killing me won't make a difference you poor, diluted fool."

"I just wish to avenge the pain you caused my village."

"Listen closely Damien, all of you actions will have their repercussions. Both the ones you've made and the ones you haven't made. You will soon see that you will only bring suffering to the ones you care about. And there won't be anything you can do. Hahahaha!" Enzo cackled loudly before succumbing to his wound and falling flat on his back.

Damien stared down at the dead man and scoffed, "I don't give a shit..." Damien turned around and saw his friends waiting for him.

"Damien!" They waved. He nodded and made their way towards them.

Later at the capitol, Damien knelt in front of Tosho who held a medal, "For your deeds in the war against the Black Oracle and your prowess in battle, I hear by award you the Golden Flame of Honor." Tosho placed the medal around his neck in which Damien nodded at Tosho, "Let's here a victory cry for Damien and a just end to the Black Oracle Rebellion!" Everyone cheered loudly with Damien's friends and Alice watching on from the side.

* * *

Later that day, Damien had prepared himself and Julia a horse with Alice interrupting him, "So you're really heading back to your village, huh?"

"Of course. That village is where I belong. Besides, I doubt the village has recovered from the pillage months earlier."

"I see. Well Damien," Alice took Damien's hand and bowed, "you are always welcome a place in the capitol. My father has granted permission to make you my bodyguard if you ever want to take up his offer."

"I'll think about it Alice." Damien looked past Alice and saw his 3 friends, "I guess it's not all bad. Allen and Alex are here. So I'm sure they'll be good enough for you right?"

"Of course."

"Are the horses ready Damien?" Julia asked.

"Yeah. We have enough supplies to last us the trip from here to Camtou."

"Great." Julia turned to the other two and smiled, "It's been great being with you 2 through this, but this is where we part."

"Hey, you know where to find us girl." Alex tackled Julia for hug and added, "You two are always welcome to the capitol. You know that."

Allen looked at Damien and did the same thing Alex did to Julia, "I'm gonna miss you dude."

"I'm not dying... again. Oh man, bad choice of words." The two broke their hug and fist bumped one another, "Come on Julia. I wanna get going before it gets too dark."

"Alright." Julia and Alex broke their hug and got situated on her horse, "See ya' guys." Julia waved them off and looked at Damien and nodded. The two quickly rode off leaving the other 3 behind. All the while Alice noticed a scroll in Damien's bag. She eyeballed it and her expression changed.


	6. A New Menace (Tyrant In The World Arc)

Julia and Damien arrived at Camtou so that Julia could meet Mei and her family along with some of the villagers, "Are you excited Julia?" Damien questioned, "You've asked me questions almost non-stop since we left the capitol."

"I'm just glad I finally get to meet this young lady and unwind after months of fighting."

"Definitely. I'll be glad to just tend to the crops with Mei's father and maybe you can be taught about some of the culture on Cemis from Mei." Damien chuckled and added, "I think you and Mei will click well. Maybe even immediately."

"You think so?"

"Without a doubt Julia." The two rode on their horses a little while longer until Damien noticed their surroundings, "I think we're here Julia." Damien turned to Julia who kept her gaze towards the front, "Don't expect too much. It is a lower class village and I don't think they've recovered from the attacks few months back."

"Don't worry I won't. Our lives weren't all too great during the war against the Black Oracle anyway."

"Well," Damien took a deep breath while they peaked over the horizon, "here is the village of Camtou."

"Parts of it is still destroyed?"

"Yeah. I knew they wouldn't have been able to hold on for long. Hm."

"What are you thinking?"

"I wonder if Alice could grant me the action to create a stronghold near Camtou so that it can always be protected."

"That would take resources and time. Remember, they still have to repair damages made across the north region of Cemis. It'll be a while before they move to villages."

"I hate that. I wish they had cared more about the lower end civilians rather than the ones in the capitol. That's what Alice wants when she takes the throne."

"That's not set in stone yet though. We're not sure if she'll even ascend past her older siblings."

"It makes me want to help her. Alice's views are of someone I can follow. Lilie and Glinen, I don't know what their true intentions are. However, judging by their actions, they care about the power."

"Damien," Julia started, "do you happen to like Alice?"

"Huh?" Damien stared at Julia and asked, "What are you talking about? I like and respect Alice as my chosen ruler. If she takes the throne, then I'll take up her offer for being her bodyguard.

"I don't think you understand what I mean."

"No I do. I'm just choosing to answer it differently." Damien turned his glance to the village and said, "I'll tell you what I told Alex. Me and Alice being together would be a real ethical dilemma for me. I only see the two of us as ruler and subordinate."

"I see..."

"Julia, as for you. Well, I don't know. You're still a wildcard to me. I'm not sure how to feel."

"And your friend, Mei?"

"Look, let's save the questions for when we're actually in the village. We've been traveling for a week and I'd like to finally relax."

"Alright."

After a few more minutes of traveling, they arrived in front of Mei's house where she stood waiting with her family, "Damien!" Damien hopped off his horse just in time for Mei to tackle him for a hug, "I was worried you weren't going to make it."

"Well, judging by that medal," Mei's father interrupted, "I see you did more than survive."

"That's the Golden Flame of Honor medal."

"It was given to me for personally killing Enzo and for my prowess in battle. I didn't think I did that well in battle."

"Well, that award is only given out to the best of the best. So I'm sure you did absolutely well."

"Damien," Mei interrupted, "is that a friend?"

"Oh yes. Uh. Everyone. This is my friend from Earth, Julia. She followed me in an attempt to bring me back to Earth, but I turned her down and here she is. She said she wanted to live with us in the village."

"Well," Mei walked up to Julia and took her hand, "it's a pleasure to meet you Julia."

"The pleasure is all mine Mei. Damien told us a lot about you and the village. He absolutely loves the village."

"I'm glad to hear that. Well, you two must be tired after traveling from the capitol. Come inside and you can rest easily now that the Black Oracle are no more."

* * *

3 month had passed and live was again normal in the world of Cemis. Damien went back to tending the fields with Mei's father and Mei helped Julia learn the customs of Cemis. However, darkness loomed over a nation in the west. A nation owned by a man known as Lord Davison.

In his throne room, he stood chugging a chalice of wine while Lilie stood next to him with a grim look on her face, "Haha! Now that the Black Oracle is finished, I no longer have to worry about losing my foothold in the kingdom! Thanks to that man Damien, I can still do as I please!"

"My lord, some of the civilians are livid at your taxes." An adviser commented, "What should we do about it?"

"Bah! Execute them! Execute all those who oppose me! If they wish to take me down, let them know that I have the beautiful Lilie at my side, Tosho's daughter, and my powerful brother, Suibhnee! Nobody can oppose my leadership!"

On a cool, clear night, Damien stared out a window in his room that he shared with Julia. Everyone in the village was fast asleep with the only noise heard being the locusts that flared in the nearby forest. In his hand was the same scroll Alice eyeballed when he left the capitol.

* * *

The scroll read:

_Damien, this is Tosho. I wish to end our alliance with Lord Davison of the West. His tyrannical actions are unjust and must be dealt with. However, I wish to avoid another war. So I want you to travel to the nation of Othen and assassinate Lord Davison. You will be going alone and my daughter, Lilie, will do her best to assist you. Gain his trust and assassinate him. I'm counting on you. If things do not go as planned on the day of your assassination attempt, your friends, Alex and Allen will be waiting for you outside the main keep to help you escape._

_Also, make sure nobody in your village knows about this. Even Julia. This mission must be discreet. However, if the assassination fails, you will need to prepare for another war. Do your best and godspeed Damien._

Damien stared down at the scroll and placed it on the table in front of him. He walked over to a nearby closet and took out his sword and armor. After putting his armor on and his sword on his waist, he moved outside to his horse. He mounted his horse, took one look at his home in Camtou before riding off into the night.

* * *

That next morning, Damien arrived in front of the capitol in Othen. He yelled out, "I am Damien! Fierce hero of the Black Oracle Rebellion! I wish to meet with Lord Davison!" The gate slowly opened revealing Lord Davison, Lilie, and a rather intimidating man behind them, "Hmph, fat pig." Damien scowled under his breath.

"Ah! Damien!" Lord Davison called out, "I have heard a lot about you from Lord Tosho and his lovely daughter here. You have made quite the reputation for yourself here on Cemis despite being a suicider."

"I only do what is right at the moment." Damien dismounted from his horse and saluted Lord Davison, "I am merely acting on instinct."

"Well, your instinct is one nobody should mess with." Lord Davison cackled loudly before saying, "Come now Damien. Let us head to the council room. I wsh to speak with you and my advisers."

"Yes my lord."

Damien followed Lord Davison into a lavish council room where many others stood. Once Lord Davison stepped into the council room, they all bowed before him quickly and rather fearfully, "Everyone, this is the Great Damien! The man who single-handily defeated the leader of the Black Oracle, Enzo!"

"Please, do not flatter me my lord." Damien tried his best to keep his deceiving personality. He sent glances to Lilie who refused to meet his eyes, "What is that you wish to discuss my lord?"

"You see, there are rumors of a coalition rising up to throw me out of power. However, I need no fear now that you're here!" Lord Davison cackled and turned to his brother, "With you and my brother on the frontlines, you would be able to single-handily send those traitors back home packing."

"So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that one of my advisers heard about an attack on a nearby stronghold of mine. How dare they attack something of mine!" Lord Davison yelled and banged his fist onto the table in front of them, "Damien, I want you to assist my trusted general there, Xuan Shi. She is an Earth-Dweller like yourself. Just a little more old school."

"Yes my lord." Damien bowed and took his leave. He walked past Lord Davison's brother and the two exchange threatening glances at one another. Once Damien was in the hall, he spoke to himself saying, "All I have to do is earn his trust. Even if that means taking on my former allies and friends. I have to do what I can to make sure I earn his trust. Then I can gut that disgusting pig where he stands."

* * *

Damien traveled to the stronghold that resided in the nation next to Othen called Xechuena. The place was cold and a snowy wonderland, "I've never experienced winter on Cemis yet. I had no idea it could be this bad." Damien shivered as he entered the stronghold. He noticed a large tent in the back of the stronghold and nodded. He dismounted his horse and handed it to one of the nearby soldiers.

He walked up to the tent and called out, "Hello? Xuan Shi?"

"Yes?"

"It's Damien. Lord Davison sent me in hopes of assisting against an impeding attack."

"Oh yes. Please come in Master Damien." Damien walked and expected another heinous person, but he was taken back when his eyes laid upon a beautiful maiden, "Hello there Master Damien."

"U-Uh."

"I am Xuan Shi."

"Wait a second." Damien quickly walked out of the tent and took a few deep breaths outside, "Why is she absolutely beautiful?" Damien mumbled to himself, "She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Damien shook his head and psyched himself up. He turned around and walked back into the tent, "Uh, hello Lord Xuan Shi."

"Please, just Xuan Shi is fine Master Damien."

"Then I must say that Damien is just fine."

"Very well then." Damien noticed Xuan Shi stood alone in her tent, "Surprised that I don't have any subordinates?"

"A little bit milady. I expected you to at least have guards outside your tent."

"Unfortunately, I am not allowed guards or any subordinates. That is why you're here Damien."

"How does that call for you to not have any guards?"

"I've heard of your strength after the Black Oracle Rebellion. You were quite a force to be reckoned with during the rebellion. Both my lord and Lord Davison held high regards for you."

"Your lord? Is Lord Davison not your lord?"

"No. He is only but an ally for my lord, Lady Shi."

"I'm assuming your sister, correct?"

"Yes. My sister is the lord of the nation Ashen."

"I see. So she sent you here to help an ally in a dire need of some help." Damien chuckled and leaned on the lone table in the tent, "I guess that's why I'm here. He wants strong allies against the coalition."

"Yes and the coalition is being led by Xixax and some of Lord Tosho's men. I fear the time of another war is brewing."

"Yes. Another war indeed." Damien looked at the map on the table and noticed a structure in the northwest, "That looks like a supply depot. Lord Tosho's soldiers would be traveling a long way in order to get here. They would need avid supplies in order to keep morale high. If we surround and cut off their supply route, then our victory is assured."

"Hm." Xuan Shi took a look too and nodded, "Yes. This leaves the supplies for us to use increasing our own morale."

"We need some men to advance and attempt to take the central route here to hold off the enemy. I'll move to cut off and capture their supply route."

"I see. Let's move now. It's best we advance now before the enemy has a chance to."

"Right." Damien didn't like fighting against former allies, but he must keep his facade up long enough to assassinate Lord Davison.

* * *

Damien's men moved through the night of the blistering, winter night on Cemis. Snow was rampant and visibility grew harder as the snow picked up. Even so, his men pushed through and eventually, they made it to the supply depot which was already in control of the coalition.

Damien ordered his men, "Capture the depot!" Damien's men charged on the enemy who panicked at their surprise attack. The coalition soldier fell one by one with some retreating or being cut down where they stood. Damien didn't take part and let his soliders take care of the attack.

One of his soldiers reported, "The supply depot is now in our hands my lord."

"Good. Set up a defensive perimeter around the supply depot. We'll starve the enemy out and force them to retreat."

That next week, the rest of the coalition arrived to see the enemy already in position and their supply depot in the hands of Lord Davison's army. Among those coalition soldiers were Allen and Alex, "How did they attack already?" Allen questioned, "There's no way they could've seen that depot so quickly?"

"They must have someone who can actual read maps." Alex sighed and looked towards the north, "We have to get that supply depot back in our hands Allen."

"Yeah. The faster we do that, the faster we can get out of this freezing cold."

"You betcha'." The coalition halted their advance while Allen and Alex's forces moved to recapture their stolen supply depot.

* * *

In the west, Lord Xixax and his men quickly disposed of Lord Davison's forces, "We have defeated the enemies in the west! Now we must take position in front of Xechuena Gate!" Lord Xixax's forced rode a wave of moment and barreled through the enemy and took position in front of the gate of the main camp.

"My lord, our supplies are running low. The men are getting tired and hungry."

"What? Where are our supplies?" Just as Lord Xixax asked this, the gates to the main camp slowly opened. A man rode out atop of a white steed and brandishing a glaive, "Is that...?"

"I am Tang Xuang! Fierce warrior from Lady Shi's forces! All of those who oppose our Lord Davison and Lady Shi shall become rust on my blade!"

* * *

Meanwhile near the supply depot, Allen and Alex arrived at the supply depot and were instantly shocked to see who had captured the supply depot. Watching his men take out some of the coalition troops. He noticed Allen and Alex in the distance and readied his weapon.

"He's suppose to be killing Lord Davison. Not fighting for him." Alex growled, "Why is he helping him?"

"He must be gaining his trust. Damien can't risk being caught." They stared Damien down who proceeded to charge at them, "Which is why he's charging at us!" Damien's horse knocked Allen and Alex back onto the ground. Damien looked at them and readied his weapon, "Damien. You're only suppose to be..."

"Silence. You are opposing Lord Davison. If you do not retreat now, I will be forced to cut you down where you stand."

"Wow. He's good at playing the bad guy." Before the two could recover, Damien sent two large waves of flames at them. After narrowly dodging his attacks, Damien was already on the run, "Where is he going?"

"Fall back!" Damien ordered.

"Huh?" The two of them looked behind them to see a large force led by Alice charging towards them, "Alice?"

"My father sent me to assist on the frontlines. My brother should be taking care of the north and storming in soon. We have a large amount of supporters to defeat Lord Davison."

"Man." Allen stood up and rubbed his neck, "You really saved us there though milady. I definitely don't wanna go toe to toe with Damien."

"Damien must keep his facade up in order to assassinate Lord Davison. The war might've already started, but it can end if Damien completes his mission."

"And if he doesn't."

"It'll lead to another era of endless fighting."

* * *

Meanwhile, Damien rode back to the gate and was confronted with Xixax army fighting off Tang's forces, "Damien!" Xixax called out, "You work for that pig now?!"

"I have my reasons Lord Xixax." Damien looked behind him as the other 3 closed in on him, "However, I must take my leave. If you want Xechuena that badly, then you can have it. I'm not risking my life for this place." Damien rode past Xixax and around the main camp.

"Huh?" Xixax was perplexed at Damien's actions and failed to realize Tang Xuang moving into attack him, "Huh?!"

"Watch out!" Before Tang Xuang could even get close to Xixax, Allen swiftly defeated the supposedly fearsome warrior, "I thought you were suppose to be a challenge."

"Impressive indeed Allen." Xixax commended, "I guess it's good that you're on our side."

"Still. I can't match Damien. He's on a whole other level."

"Yes. Why is he fighting for Lord Davison?"

"He's there to assassinate him." Alice explained from atop her horse, "My father sent him on a mission to assassinate Lord Davison before the war gets any worse. He's trying to earn his trust so assassinating him is easier."

"I see."

"I noticed he didn't take part in any of the fighting." Alex interrupted, "He didn't even swing his sword. He's trying very hard to not kill anyone on the coalition."

"All we can do is hope that his plan follows through."

* * *

Later that week, Damien knelt in front of Lord Davison, "I have failed you my lord. The enemy was too much for me to handle. I was for sure that stealing their provisions would work, but they received reinforcements in massive numbers."

"Do not blame yourself Damien. I should've known they would attack Xechuena with all they have the minute they heard you were defending it. Even so, it is an acceptable loss."

"I will repay my shame by defending the next area with my life in the next battle."

"My lord!" A messenger barged into throne room and reported, "Glinen's forces are advancing from the north. They will arrive at Bacre Gate in a hebdomad."

"I see. Damien. You rest here in the castle. My brother shall handle those insects."

"Yes my lord..."

"My dear. Please show Damien to where he will be staying."

"Yes my lord." Lilie responded, "Please follow me Damien." Damien followed down a hall until they stopped at large luxurious room, "I hope it is to your liking."

"I don't like this version of you Lilie."

"Whatever do you mean? I am only trying to please my husband."

"Yeah. Sure." Lilie bowed and left Damien alone. Damien took his sword off his hip and placed it next to his bed. He noticed a desk with scrolls and fresh ink on it, "Ink with no quill? I guess that's as far this luxurious room gets." He heard the creak of the wood behind him and quickly turned around. In gleam of the night, he noticed a bright quill on the floor. The white feather glistened in the moonlight and he chuckled, "Thank you Lilie."

Damien picked up the quill and took out a scroll. He proceeded to write a message. Once completed, he whistled. A hawk landed in front of him and he chuckled, "And thank you Mei." Damien tied the note around the hawk's legs and nodded, "Deliver this to Allen of the coalition." The hawk quickly flew off leaving Damien to stare at it as it flew off, "I'll kill this pig even if it's the last thing I do."


	7. A Night In Oshen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should've posted an update a while ago, but better late than never. This story was on a rather long hiatus after the October update. After a 3-month hiatus, I returned to revive this story. The reason behind this story hitting a roadblock like it did was because my friend, who was my co-writer, left the project in November.
> 
> My friend and I started this project in December of 2018, just over a year ago. We posted the prologue in the Summer of 2019 in hopes of it getting a little attention. It was met with mediocre views and votes, not like some of my other works on PhantomDrummer. That was what led to my friend leaving the project and most of what we worked on.
> 
> After she left, I decided to rewrite the original plot of New World, New Life and make it my own. So everything after the Black Oracle Rebellion is what I worked on over 3 months after my friend left the project. I didn't want to say anything about this situation, but my friend went ahead and gave me the go ahead. As for my friend, she has been my co-writer since 2016. So we've been in it for a while and I could understand why she would want to go on and do her own thing.
> 
> Anyway, I just thought I'd clear up why this and among other stories hasn't been updated. I've already started working on the rest of the Tyrant in the World Arc as we introduce more characters, nations, and warlords to NW, NL! Enjoy!

After a few weeks of remaining in Oshen, Damien woke up one day to see a woman sitting in his room. The woman was Xuan Shi, "Milady, why are you in my quarters?"

"My sister ordered to remain at your side during this war. It appears I am to be your lieutenant until this war is over."

"I see." Damien stood up and sat across from Xuan Shi, "I'm afraid I won't be deploying at Bacre Gate."

"Well then, I would like to discuss some strategies for our next battle."

"Okay. What do you have?"

"I'm assuming that Bacre Gate will only have Lord Davison's brother guarding it. So there will be a time where we will have to deploy assault. You see, the battlefield will have our forces heavily defending the gate from the point of attack. Since the gate is rather impenetrable, it would be obvious for the enemy to attack with siege weapons."

"So we take out their siege weapons and there would be no way for them to break through the gate. I'm assuming you and Lord Davison's brother will take position in front of the gate. The rest of the army will take position farther ahead in order to hold the enemy off long enough for our archers to get in position."

"Right. So we'll just need to hold our positions until the archers get in position."

"Yes. We'll just need to drain the enemy out long enough for them to pull back."

"That won't end the war though. It'll only prolong it. I want to end it as soon as possible." Damien stood up and walked out to the outdoor hall, "This beautiful atmosphere must be protected and the war surrounding this world isn't going to keep it safe."

"Is it better than your past life?"

"Definitely. I guess suiciding makes part of this worth it."

"You created quite a stir in the capitol when you reincarnated as a suicider. All around the land you instilled fear into the people. However, after your deeds against the Black Oracle, your title as a suicider is nothing but water under the bridge."

"That was the plan. Do well against the Black Oracle to protect my village and my name."

"You live in the northeast region, correct?"

"Yes. In a rather small, poor village where we survive off our farms and livestock."

"It must've been hard transitioning from what you had on Earth to here on Cemis."

"I always wondered that. If this place is the life after death, why isn't it as advanced as our world."

"Everything here is very traditional. It makes life simple. Haven't you seen the time during peace that it's very simple."

"Yeah. It's much better than Earth. However, the use of a caste system is still very much rampant here."

"But you can get out of that social class. It's not like in some societies on Earth. Some people just enjoy their quaint lifestyle."

"I especially enjoy mine. It's hard work tending to the farm, but it's very calming." Damien sighed and turned back to his room, "This is why I must end any war as quickly as possible."

* * *

Later that night, Damien stood outside his room staring at the moonlit sky, "I hope my message got to Allen."

Several miles away from Damien's position, Allen and Alex moved towards Othen during the night. Without any troops, they are moving to assist Damien in his assassination attempt on Lord Davison, "Damien said he'll need us close by in case the assassination attempt goes down the drain." Allen and Alex stopped when the castle stood visible just over the hill, "We'll set up camp here and move in just before daybreak."

"Alright." Alex jumped onto one of the trees and laid down on a branch, "I have the high ground, you take the low ground."

"Man. The super-human like abilities we have after reincarnating is insane."

"Hey Allen, how long do you think has passed on Earth?"

"I'm not sure. When Damien said he was only here for 2 weeks, but he was dead for months on Earth makes me believe that the near 9 months we've spent here on Cemis could easily be almost 2 years on Earth."

"I wonder if our loved ones miss us..."

"They knew what were getting into when said we wanted to either see Damien again or bring him back entirely."

"But now it's been well over a year, nearly 2, and they haven't seen us."

"Your girlfriend must be worried."

"She's probably given up on seeing me again. So I'm not sure about her."

"What do you think about Damien's family. You know how his sister is about him. She was one of the other few people who tried to help with his depression. His parents had no clue."

"I don't know. If they were gonna do the same thing we did to get here, then I would've expected them to come here a long time ago."

"Maybe they'll be here soon. They knew about the dangers, but with how much they care about Damien, it's obvious they would try regardless of how dangerous it could be."

* * *

In Glinen's army to the north, the army marching towards Bacre Gate. In that army, a lone female soldier fell behind the massive army, "Taylor." Another soldier called out. It was an older woman, "Come on sweetie, we can't lag behind."

"I'm not used to this..." The female soldier, now known as Taylor, responded, "How can you two do this without being tired?"

"We're marathon runners," An older male soldier responded, "We did stuff like this for training. Still, the winter here is quite rough."

"Mom, Dad, do you think Damien is in the middle of this?"

"He's been here for quite some time. It would be obvious that he would. This is our chance to find him and just be with him again."

"I'm actually surprised that Allen's girlfriend still went along with us, but she's with Lilie's army."

"That's right."

"You two," Taylor's mother started, "let's just focus on going through this."

"Right..."

* * *

Inside the main keep of Oshen's capitol, Damien traveled through with his sword and a small dagger in hand. He held the dagger tight and peaked around a corner. He saw a group of guards nod at each other before all but one of them walked off to patrol. Once the other guards were gone, he whistled.

The guard turned towards him and slowly walked over to where Damien whistled. The guard turned the corner and saw nobody, "Hm. It must've been the wind." Damien walked behind the man and shook his head.

He dodged several more guards before arriving at the throne room. He quietly entered while Lord Davison sat on his throne with Lilie standing next to him, "That father of yours my dear. Helping the enemy! Don't worry my dear. I'll teach that foolish father of yours a lesson."

"Please, do not kill him my lord."

"And why not? He was foolish enough to think that he could oppose me!"

"But my lord."

"Lilie, may I ask you this? Is Damien suspicious?"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"For him to so easily lose Xechuena is unthinkable. I thought he was a powerful warrior who nobody could surpass."

"I'm not sure my lord. Our soldiers were outnumbered when reinforcements from my father arrived. He must've been fatigued that point."

"I guess. There weren't many competent warriors there. Not even that sister of Lady Shi. But I must admit, she is a beauty."

"My lord?"

"I wouldn't mind taking her as my concubine. I mean, Lady Shi wouldn't have a choice. She knows what would happen if she would oppose my leadership."

Damien listened closely and was very close to bull-rushing Lord Davison, but he stopped himself, "I'll get you one day, but not tonight you glutenous pig." Damien slowly made his way back to his room and saw that Xuan Shi sat on his bed, "Xuan Shi? What are you doing up?"

"I could say the same for you."

"I just wanted to take a stroll around the castle."

"Oh. Why?"

"Uh. Just homesick. It's already been nearly a month since I left my village. I miss the people I left there."

"I understand. I haven't seen my sister in nearly 4 months. I've been here in Oshen assisting Lord Davison's army."

"I've noticed that some of his soldiers are very idiotic. A lot of them could barely hold out at Xechuena. A lot of them tucked their tails and ran but came back when Tang Xuang arrived. It's terrible. I doubt we would be able to hold Bacre Gate."

"It's why I sat here worried. You need your rest."

"I'm sorry for worrying you Xuan Shi..." Damien choked a little bit and sighed, "Well..."

"Are you okay Damien?"

"I'm not going to lie to you Xuan Shi. When I first saw you, I was completely taken aback by your gorgeous appearance. I've grown accustomed to it, but now that I see that you're my lieutenant, it's blowing my mind."

"Why do you say that?"

Damien looked up at Xuan Shi who bore the warmest smile Damien has ever seen since he first met Mei. Damien looked away and answered, "Part of your warm personality reminds me of a friend back at my village." Damien looked and met her gaze, "Not to mention your beauty. I would've never been able to feel this back home."

"Earth must've been rough for you Damien."

"I guess part of it would be my fault. I never took any sort of initiative even with my own friend."

"Your friend. I'm guessing this isn't the one that you left at your village, correct?"

"That's right. My friend wanted me to go to dance with her and I wanted to go with her, but I bailed out."

"A dance?"

"Uh. Kinda like a soiree."

"Ah. I see..." Xuan Shi stood up and stepped in front of Damien, "What happened to your relationship then?"

"I'm not sure. Neither of us pointed out the issue. We just went about our lives normally. We're still friends to this day. In fact, she's on Cemis right now. As a soldier of the coalition..."

Xuan Shi paused before asking, "That's why you pulled back when you did."

"That's right. Not only that, but my other friend and Alice. I developed a good relationship with milady and now that I'm fighting for Lord Davison against them..."

"You do what you think is right Damien. I'll follow you wherever you go. Even if that means go against my sister's orders."

"But that'll endanger your sister and her kingdom."

"My sister has a plan in case something like that happens. Do not worry."

"Xuan Shi I..."

"Now, now Damien. You need to rest okay?"

"Alright..." Just as Damien said this, Lord Davison stood at his doorway with Lilie standing at his side, "Lord Davison." Both Damien and Xuan Shi saluted Lord Davison before Damien asked, "What brings you to my quarters so late at night?"

"I'd like to talk to you alone." Lord Davison looked over at Xuan Shi who nodded.

"Give me a moment." Damien walked over to Xuan Shi and quickly, but quietly said, "Check under my pillow when we leave. It's important." Damien walked away and followed Lord Davison. The 3 roamed the halls for a minute while Damien was wary of Lord Davison's aura, "Is there something important you wanted to discuss my lord?"

"Damien, I think it's pretty obvious that you're not performing to the best of your abilities." Lord Davison stopped and turned around, "It's very obvious." Out from the shadows, a group of soldiers appeared brandishing spears and swords. Among those soldiers is Lord Davison's brother, Suibhnee.

Damien looked around and scoffed, "I should've killed you when I had the chance you fat pig."

"But now look at you. Surrounded by my soldiers and the strongest warrior in all the land, my brother."

"You speak highly of your brother. It'll make killing feel a lot better." Damien growled as he glanced behind him, "But I'm afraid our time here is up."

On the castle walls, Xuan Shi stood on top of it while the floor was riddled with fallen soldiers. In one hand, she held her weapon, which was a glaive almost similar to Tang Xuang's, but just below the blade, the hairs of a dragon rest along the staff. On her hip was Damien's sword. She looked at her glaive and pointed it at the sky, "I hope this works..." Large bursts of flare-like projectiles shot out of her glaive and exploded in mid-air.

The explosions were big and loud enough for Allen and Alex to see them, "Allen!"

"It's time to move! Just in time too. Glinen's army should already be attacking Bacre Gate."

"Right. Let's go!"

Meanwhile, the explosion distracted everyone except Damien who pulled one of the soldiers by his spear and kicked him into Lord Davison. Damien took this moment to throw the spear at Lord Davison, but it was caught in mid-air by Suibhnee. However, Damien was already gone. He was seen sprinting down the the hall towards the castle walls.

"Suibhnee. After him!"

"Yes brother." Suibhnee answered.

Damien ran up the castle wall halfway before taking out a grappling hook. He threw it at the edge of the wall and once it hooked on, he pulled himself quickly while archers led by Suibhnee fired at him. An arrow pierced his calf, but he shrugged it off and successfully climbed on top of the wall to see Xuan Shi waiting for him.

"You made it."

"Obviously. That explosion distracted them and if I'm correct," Damien pointed over to the nearby forest where Allen and Alex arrived with another horse for them to ride, "our escape is here."

"But Damien, your leg."

"It's fine. We'll handle it when we get to safety."

"But..."

"Come on!" Damien grabbed Xuan Shi by her wrist and jumped off the castle wall and onto the horse that Allen and Alex brought, "You two lead the way!"

"Right!" Allen and Alex rode ahead with Damien following behind.

"Here Damien," Xuan Shi handed Damien his sword and he quickly took it, "I'm afraid I couldn't get your armor."

"That'll be fine. I'll have to look for some replacement armor when we get to the coalition main camp."

* * *

After a few hours of traveling through the winter night, they arrived at the coalition camp where Alice was stationed. When the 4 warriors arrived, Alice was the first to greet them, "I am so glad you managed to get him here alive, but," Alice looked down at Damien's leg which still had the arrow in it and she frowned, "I see that he didn't get out unscathed."

"I'm sorry milady." Damien responded, "It was just a lucky shot."

Alice turned to Xuan Shi and bowed, "I see you are Lady Shi's younger sister. It is surprising to see you here knowing that your sister is in alliance with Lord Davison. However, I see that you being here would tell me that the alliance has ended?"

"It is not set in stone, but I'm sure that once he catches wind that I'm gone, he will turn his back on my sister."

"Aren't you worried he'll try something?" Alex questioned, "I'm sure we can send some assistance to your sister in case she needs the help."

"No worries. My sister planned for this. She has no worry for anything that Lord Davison has planned."

"That's good." Alice responded with a smile, "And as for you Damien, we'll need to take care of that injury. But don't worry." Alice waved them to follow him towards a tent and opened it, "I'm sure some people here would love to help you out." Before he made his way to the tent, she stopped him, "I'm glad you're safe Damien."

"I'm sorry for worrying you milady."

"I-I wasn't worried." She refuted, "I just have to care for my people."

Damien smiled and laughed, "Sure milady." Damien walked off while Alice held a small smile while he did walk off.

Inside the tent stood both Julia and Mei, "Uh..." Damien glanced at Julia, Mei, and Xuan Shi before sighing, "Wow..." Damien walked up to them and said, "Look, I'm sorry for not telling you."

"Do you really think we weren't dumb enough to read the scroll you left? Or did you deliberately leave it?"

"Yes and yes."

Julia sighed and looked at his leg, "Well, I'll let Mei take care of you leg. Afterwards, you'll need to meet us in the main tent. We'll be moving out to assist Glinen tomorrow morning at Bacre Gate."

"I'm on it." Mei helped Damien settle down on one of the beds in the tent, "You should be more careful."

"Sorry about that. It was either that or be cut down by 6+ people including that pig's brother, Suibhnee. There's no way I would let that happen, not by a long shot."

"Excuse me." Xuan Shi interrupted, "But I do have some information about Bacre's Gate. Do you think that will prove useful Damien?"

"It should. Save it for when Mei finishes up on my leg."

"I see. I will see you in the main tent." Xuan Shi bowed and left the two alone.

Damien looked down at Mei who was tending to his leg, "You had me worried my lord."

"No. Don't start with that 'my lord' crap." Damien lightly pinched Mei's cheek and chuckled, "But I'm sorry for worrying you. Lord Tosho gave me this mission just before I left the capitol. I was hoping I could take out Lord Davison, but I think Lilie ratted me out."

"Why do you say that?"

"She's being controlled by him. She knows that if she goes against his word, she'll be severely punished. I..."

"I was told that she wanted to make you her husband so that she wouldn't have to marry that man. You're thinking that you should've done so that she wouldn't have to suffer, right?"

"Yeah. Seeing her that way and not as her cheerful-self pisses me off..."

"Don't go too overboard okay? The last thing is for you to be any worse than this. I know you'll turn this around."

"Thank you."

"Your calf should be fine. You should go and head out to the tent. They've been waiting for you."

"I will." Damien slowly stood up and moved his leg around. He nodded and made his way out of the tent.


	8. Attack on Bacre Gate

That next day, Damien led a massive army accompanied by Allen, Alex, Julia, and Xuan Shi at his side. Damien looked at the sun above and chuckled, "Even with the sun beaming down on us, it's still cold as hell."

"Winter is brutal in North Cemis." Julia explained, "It's hard on the men. They're barely making it through the cold. I even heard that it's snowing around Bacre Gate."

"Wow." Alex commented in shock, "We never got snow."

"That's because we lived in Florida." Allen explained, "Snow was nothing more than a pipe dream and if I remember, we went skiing in Utah, but Julia got hurt."

"Hey." Julia scowled. "That wasn't my fault. Alex didn't tell me that she cracked my pole."

"Can we focus on the battle?" Damien ordered, "As much I would love to reminisce about Julia tumbling down the beginner path, we need to keep our mind on the battle ahead." Julia pouted and sighed, "Everyone remember the plan?"

"Yeah."

* * *

-The Day Before-

"Alright," Damien began, "so we understand that Bacre gate is on an elevated platform with the only way to the gate is this hill here. This means that they'll be using the elevation to their advantage. Our job there is to hold out until our siege weapons are complete."

"How long could that take?" Alex questioned, "We can't remain as sitting ducks while they take shots at us."

"It just depends on how fast our engineers will take to complete them. When we do blow that gate to pieces, I will charge first and distract Suibhnee while everyone goes ahead."

"Wait a minute!" Julia retorted, "There's no way I'll allow you to face Suibhnee alone. That will not go by me Damien!"

"Will anyone else take up that job?" Damien questioned, "If we try to face him head on, then he'll only kill us one by one. I'm the only one that stands a real chance against him. Xuan Shi, you will stay back with me and we'll deal with Suibhnee. The rest of you will charge with Glinen's army and force their army to retreat."

"But..." Julia attempted to intervene, but Damien held his hand up stop her.

"No more buts milady. This is our only chance to take care of Lord Davison's only real weapon."

"I also know that part of the castle is sectioned off." Xuan Shi explained, "It houses archers that will fire volleys periodically on our army. We'll need to find a way to take care of this." On the map, Xuan Shi drew a part of the gate that had a sectioned area next to the main gate.

"That's also on a hill. Hm." Damien observed the map and crouched, "I saw Bacre Gate once." Damien closed his eyes and visualized the battlefield, "From that one time I saw it." With his eyes still closed, he picked up some dirt and placed it on the map where the hill in front of the sectioned off castle wall was. He arranged the dirt to form a modest hill. Nothing steep like the hill in front of the main gate, "If I can remember, the hill in front of that wall will be 500 meters. The same length as the hill in front of the main gate. However, the hill isn't very high as the incline will only be few hundred meters high."

"How did you...?" Julia questioned.

"We can set up some ladders and soldiers to storm that side of the castle and take out those archers." Damien continued, "And with that area in our grasp, we'll be able to pincer the gate."

"So when soldiers try to retreat after we open that gate," Allen finished, "they'll run into an ambush."

"That's right." Damien nodded, "And since both hills are about 300 meters apart, it'll be hard for the enemy to assist in the east while they deal with us."

"Damien," Julia started, "how did you recreate it so well?"

"Something I picked while living in Camtou. I read through a lot of books and I learned some magic to help me in everyday battles." Damien took out his sword and glided his hand across it. As he did so, the blade engulfed in a bright, controlled flame, "I conjured a fire spirit into this blade and it allows me to control fire in quick controlled bursts either when I guide my hand across it, or by simply dragging it along the ground."

"Wow..."

"As for recreating the battlefield, I used the spells: Recreation and Remembrance. Both kinda speak for themselves."

"We'll need to transport materials to the battlefield in order to build some of these siege weapons." Julia explained.

"I believe Lilie's army will be transporting those supplies." Allen explained, "She's arriving from the west with Xixax's army. We can meet her there and we can get started."

"Right." Damien agreed, "Let's get moving now so we're not too late."

* * *

-Present-

Damien nodded and looked ahead, "Lord Davison will expect me there. He'll try to beat us out using cheap tactics and numbers. However, I noticed some of his own subordinates and generals are second-guessing their loyalty."

"What are you saying Damien?" Julia questioned.

"We attack their spirits and force those people to submit. It'll just be unnecessary bloodshed if we attack them too."

"How do you suppose we do that?"

"I want that gate in our possession or in rubble by sundown."

"That's impossible!" Xuan Shi exclaimed, "There's no way we can take down a supposed impenetrable gate by sundown."

"Nothing is truly impossible or impenetrable. Everything out there seems impossible until it's done." Damien looked behind him and ordered, "If I'm the commander of this army, I want us to outdo everyone the day we take that gate down. The glory is ours for the taking."

"That seems a little out of character for you to want glory." Alex commented, "Why do you care about that?"

"It might help with my psyche." Damien answered, "I also believe that Tosho would fulfill my wish to build a stronghold near my village in Camtou so that it can always be protected."

"You really want that, don't you?" Allen questioned, "Well, he might station us there so that we can all be together again. That would be cool."

"Before that, we'll need to focus on ending that fat pigs reign of tyranny in the Oshen." Damien took out his sword and dragged his finger across it, igniting it, "That man will fall by my blade..."

After several days of travelling, Damien's army arrived several yards away from the main army who had set up a camp 100 li away from Bacre Gate. Damien met up with Glinen and Alice to discuss their plan. All the while Taylor noticed him entering the tent.

She slowly walked forward and saw Allen, Alex, and Julia following behind, "Mom, Dad..." She softly called out, "He's here..."

"What?"

"Damien is here..."

"No. That's not possible."

"I saw him!"

* * *

Inside the tent, Damien was already explaining the plan to Glinen and Alice, "2 of our forces will split into two and attack the enemy on two sides. My forces will take position in front of the gate to distract the enemy. Alice, I'll need your forces to travel to the castle wall 300 meters away from the gate. From there, our engineers will setup siege ladders and siege towers in order to hold the enemy back. You army will climb the ladders once they are deployed and attack the enemy from within. From there, you'll move around the inside and we'll pincer attack the enemy."

"What will I do?" Glinen questioned.

"I'd like for you personally to remain in the main camp and take action when we break through Bacre Gate."

"Very well then. This seems like a solid plan."

"We move at dawn." Damien ordered, "We'll have that gate in our hands or reduced to rubble by sundown."

"Right!"

Damien stepped and was met with Taylor and her parents, "May I help you?"

"Don't tell you don't recognize me." Taylor commented, "It's me. Taylor. Your sister."

Damien gave her one good look and then to his parents. He walked past them only to comment, "You're all stupid for coming here."

"Huh?!" She exclaimed, "What are you talking about?!"

"I've seen things in war here. They get ugly and the last thing I want is for my family to experience that." Damien scoffed and shook his head, "You should've stayed on Earth where it's better."

"No life is better if you're not there little bro!" Taylor yelled. At this moment, Alice and her siblings walked out to observe the situation, "It's been nearly 2 years since you're death on Earth. We sent those 3 in hopes of bringing you back, but when they never came back to life, we worried for them. So me, our parents... and even Allen's girlfriend all came here to bring all of you back."

"Wait," Allen interrupted, "my girlfriend is here?"

"Yes. She was stationed in Alice's army."

"Where is she?"

"In the tent over there." Taylor pointed at a nearby tent and Allen immediately ran to it. Taylor turned to Damien and walked up to him, "I can't tell you how many restless nights I've had since you committed suicide. Now I get to see you again. Even if you have a different, much more handsome appearance, I'm now glad I get to see you again."

"Well. I'm not returning to Earth that's for damn sure." Damien sternly stated, "So at the end of this war, you decide whether or not you want to stay on Cemis. Now if you would excuse me, I have an army to command." Damien walked off with Taylor confused at Damien's actions.

"I know Alex said that he changed," Taylor stared at the ground and kicked the dirt underneath her, "but I didn't think it was this severe."

"I think our son has finally found his purpose." Their father explained, "Maybe he finally found a reason to live and it's in this world."

"The best we can do sweetie is support him as best we can." Their mother explained.

"You're right." Taylor sighed and turned to Julia, "When do we start moving?"

"At dawn." Alice answered, "I believe you 3 are in my army, correct?"

"Yes. Why?"

"You 3 will advance with her on one of the castle walls 300 meters from the gate."

"Wait. Can I move with Damien's army?" Taylor requested.

"I believe we can arrange that." Alice granted, "Your parents will have to remain in my forces however."

"I understand. Mom, Dad?"

"We'll stay with Master Alice. You take position with Damien's army."

"Yes!"

"Damien's army will take position in front of the gate." Julia explained, "They will distract the enemy while Alice's army attack the castle wall to the east. Just follow Damien's orders and our victory is assured."

"Right!"

* * *

That next morning just as the sun was barely over the horizon, Damien's army took position in front of the gate. Damien stared down Suibhnee who stood on the hill atop of a well-decorated, red horse, "When we advance, We stop at the foot of the hill and prepare our rams and catapults. Just hold your positions until I give the signal."

"Yes sir!"

Hours passes while the engineers prepared catapults and rams while Damien only stared at Suibhnee the entire time, "Everyone, get back." Damien ordered. Just as he said this, an officer from Lord Davison's forces slowly made their way down the hill. The sounds of war drums filled the air the closer the officer got to their frontline.

Once the officer stopped at the foot of the hill, he ordered, "I want to face off in a duel with you! Damien!"

"Why me? Surely there is someone else here you would like to duel."

"You were the hero of the Black Oracle Rebellion!" The warrior explained, "I will prove my strength by defeating you here!"

"If I am to duel you here today, I must know who my opponent is!"

"I am Raghnall! I will defeat you and prove that I am stronger than you! Stronger than Suibhnee! Stronger than anyone in the world of Cemis!"

"Try if you must. I'll give you 30 seconds of my time."

"Have at thee!" Raghnall stormed towards Damien who did the same. However, Damien did not unsheathe his sword and charged at Raghnall without a weapon. Raghnall wielded a serrated spear and winded up his attack. Just the two were just a few yards apart, he attacked. In that split second, Damien ducked under the attack and grabbed the spear. He hoisted Raghnall off the horse and sent him to the ground with a loud thud. Damien rode around just as Raghnall got up on one knee. In that short moment, Damien slice his head clean off.

Raghnall's lifeless body slowly fell in a pool of its own blood. Damien looked at the head of the officer that balanced itself on his blade. He chuckled and dumped the head onto the ground, "How boring..." Damien's men cheered as he made his way back to them.

Taylor watched in disgust and awe. She was disgusted at how Damien treated the man's head after his death, but amazed how easily he dodged and defeated the man.

"Damien is truly a unique combat specimen." Julia commented, "He never took an ounce of combat training of any kind on Earth and yet here on Cemis he can do that. Almost like it's a second nature to him." 

"The guy is just amazing to watch." Allen added, "The same could be said about Julia, Alex, and I since we all have some sort of physical enhancement, but Damien is on a whole other level."

"Damien is also a lot more handsome here on Cemis." Alex cooed, "Yeah Damien looks handsome when he's clean, but when he gets dirty and into the battle, there's some sort of rough edge to him that makes him almost irresistible. It explains milady's crush on him."

"H-Huh?!" Alice exclaimed, "I do not have such feelings for Damien." She retorted, "Yes, he is very skilled in combat and his looks are very endearing, but I do not like him in that way."

"Then why are you trying so hard to make him your _personal_ bodyguard."

"T-That is none of your business Alex!"

"I guess my brother has really made a name for himself on Cemis." Taylor softly commented, "I guess there's no choice for me than to stay here."

"You're staying?" Julia questioned.

"I mean. If he doesn't want to go back, I don't want to force him to. I mean, that's why all of you stayed, right?"

"Yeah." The 3 respond in unison, "I guess so."

"The best I can do now is support my brother in any way possible! Just like when we were alive on Earth!"

"That's what we do." Julia agreed, "All we can do is support our friend/commander."

"My lord!" An engineer called out, "The siege weapons are complete!"

"That's good." Damien responded, "Let's hope that they're already in position in the east." Damien turned towards his army and ordered, "Everyone! We charge up the hill and we'll break down that gate. Attack it with the rams and catapults! Leave Suibhnee to me!"

"Yes sir!"

"Now! Charge!" Damien stormed up the hill with everyone else following behind him. The enemy soldiers on the hill were quickly cut down as Damien's army momentum skyrocketed. Glinen watched from the main camp and only glared at Damien's army.

* * *

Damien eventually met up with Suibhnee and the two stared daggers at each other, "So," Suibhnee started, "Damien, their have been many rumors about your skills in battle."

"The rumors have been proven true though. It's only up to you if you wish to test those rumors."

"My brother was a fool to trust you. Then again, he is a fool either way. Still, you threaten our way of life in Oshen and I won't let you endanger that!"

"Then come on." Damien silently challenged, "Let's see if you can do something about it." In almost a split-second, Suibhnee's horse quickly made its way to Damien. This caught Damien off-guard as Suibhnee brought his halberd around and swung at Damien. Even though he was caught off-guard, he was able to block the attack, but he was knocked off his horse in the process.

His friends, his sister, and Alice noticed this and moved in to help Damien, but he held his hand up. He slowly stood up and dragged his blade along the ground. Once the blade was fully engulfed in flames, he swung at the air 3 times sending 3 waves of fire at Suibhnee. Suibhnee slice through the first 2, but the 3rd hit him and knocked him off his own horse.

At this point, the rams and catapults were already attacking the gate, but Suibhnee didn't care. All he cared about at that moment was killing Damien, "I never thought you would've learned magic so quickly. Perhaps there's more to you than I thought."

"Everyone always second guesses me. Especially after being dubbed a suicider." Damien pointed his blade at Suibhnee and added, "I will end this war and bring a new era of peace to the world of Cemis." Damien pointed his now sword engulfed in flames at Suibhnee, "That starts with you and that fat pig of a brother you have."

"Hmph." Suibhnee and Damien stared each other down before charging at one another.

Julia took out a group of soldiers and glanced at Damien fighting Suibhnee. She was tempted to help him, but held back. She shifted her glance to the gate and nodded, "Allen, I need you to focus on defending the catapults!"

"I'm on it!" Allen responded after throwing a soldier into another group.

"Alex! We'll need to defend that ram until it breaks down that gate."

"But that's too deep in their territory."

"It's either that or drag this out longer!" Julia ran ahead and slammed her bo-staff onto the ground. Afterwards, small meteorites fell from the sky and took out a large number of soldiers, "Let's go Alex!"

"Right!"

Damien and Suibhnee clashed back and forth with neither men gaining the upper hand. The two met in deadlock and glared at one another, "Serving that pig. I understand you're his brother, but he has no right to rule the way he's ruling!" Damien stepped back and took out a group of soldiers who tried to attack.

"Hmph. You think I serve him because he's my brother. I do not give a damn about my brother!" Suibhnee swung his halberd towards Damien who ducked. However, Suibhnee's halberd took out even more soldiers than what Damien took out, "I fight for the thrill of battle and for myself. I fight to meet a decent challenge!" The two met in deadlock once again with Suibhnee growling, "If you must be that man that provides me with said challenge; then you better not disappoint me."

"You best not disappoint me then." Damien jumped away from Suibhnee and dragged his blade across the ground again. Damien jumped over Suibhnee and attempted to slice Suibhnee. However, Suibhnee blocked with ease. Damien attempted to hit Suibhnee more, but every time he tried to, he would deflect or block his attacks. Damien didn't hold up either. He went at it repeatedly and didn't let up.

* * *

Meanwhile, Julia watched their battle and noticed something, "Is his weapon...?" Julia stepped forward, but was interrupted by an arrow that was shot at her. The arrow went straight through her shoulder and she groaned in pain.

Damien turned around and attempted to rush over to help her, but was slashed in the back by Suibhnee's halberd. This sent Damien flying into Julia.

Julia rubbed he back of her head and looked at Damine's back, "Oh no..." Julia held Damien just as Suibhnee loomed over, "Damien! Get up!"

"I thought he would be able to provide me with a decent challenge." Suibhnee drew his halberd and swung it at them.

"No!" Allen rammed his shoulder into Suibhnee, causing him to stumble back, "You next Alex!"

Alex ran by with her hookblades and hooked Suibhnee's leg. This caused him to fall to his knees. Julia slowly helped Damien up just in time for the gate to fall. Suibhnee looked around and scoffed.

"What are you waiting for?" Suibhnee questioned, "Finish me!"

Damien slowly supported himself and answered, "I'd rather not kill a man this way again." Damien glared at Suibhnee who glared at him back, "Pull your army back. We'll meet again on the battlefield soon enough."

Suibhnee slowly rose and grabbed his halberd that was on the ground and glanced at Damien, "You and your friends might have won today, but the next time we meet, I will take your head." Suibhnee whistled for his horse and mounted it as it arrived, "Remember that Damien. Your head will be mine."

Damien watched as Suibhnee and his men pulled back while dodging Lilie's army from the other side. Damien flinched when the pain from his wound started to set in. He collapsed to one knee and groaned.

"Damien," Julia knelt next to Damien and observed his wound, "is it bad?"

"It's the first time I've been hit by something that wasn't an arrow." Damien answered, "Still, we have the momentum." Damien slowly rose up and grabbed his sword, "With this, our final battle with Lord Davison is just over the horizon." He looked over at Julia and caressed her shoulder, "But you..."

"My wound will be healed." Julia refuted, "Focus on yourself for now," she smiled at him and addressed him as, "my lord..."

* * *

Meanwhile in Oshen, Suibhnee knelt in front of his brother who circled around him.

"You have failed in the defense of Bacre Gate." Lord Davison started, "You know that failure is met with severe punishment, correct?"

"Yes... my lord."

"Since you are my brother however, I will only deal a moderate punishment." Lord Davison turned to Lilie and held out his hand, "Hand me your weapon."

Lilie reluctantly handed Lord Davison her sword. Lord Davison rubbed his fingers across the blade and held his hand out, "Now your arm brother." Suibhnee held up his arm and Lord Davison grabbed it while slicing straight through his arm, "Let this be a lesson to you brother! Do not fail under my employ!"

Suibhnee did not react to the pain and only nodded, "I will end that foolish resistance brother."

"Good." Lord Davison threw his brother's arm to the side and knelt in front of him, "I know you'll do what is needed for me, correct?"

"Yes my lord. Once I kill that man Damien, everyone else will be easy picking."

"Very good." Lord Davison cackled and ordered, "Oh, but leave any women alone. Capture them and bring them to me. It'll make my paradise a whole lot better."

"Will do my lord."

Lilie stood behind them with a look of worry as Lord Davison proceeded to devilishly cackle at the top of his lungs.


	9. Ending A Tyrant's Reign (Tyrant In The World Arc)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The pictures being shown are the status of units throughout the battle. Morale is represented as: #/10. 10 being the highest possible amount of morale and 0 being the lowest. The lower the morale, the worst the unit's state is getting. The higher it is, the better the unit's state is. Just thought I'd add this in case people were trying to figure out my layout.

A camp was setup near the capitol of Oshen. Damien was being tended to by his Mei just as Taylor joined with them. She didn't say much while she only watched Mei tend to Damien's wound. Damien noticed this and finally asked her something.

"Did you and the others go to the same scientist guy?"

"Yeah." Taylor answered, "Their bodies have been buried, but yours is still being preserved. I find it odd that he still has yours in preservation, but the other 3 buried elsewhere."

"He doesn't wanna give up on me." Damien added, "He probably wants to know what Cemis is like, but he won't ever know until he actually goes himself."

The two remained silent for a moment until Taylor asked, "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"I'm not sure." He answered, "In my first bout just a few months ago, it felt like it was all instinct. Like I was born to do it. Maybe it's how our new, reformed bodies are in this world. I'm not sure."

"Your duel against that man..."

"He was foolish to duel me." Damien interrupted, "He was arrogant and thought he was better than everyone just because he was under Lord Davison. Hah."

"Your wound is clean my lord." Mei interrupted, "Don't strain yourself too much and just rest until the next battle."

"I will. Thank you Mei." Damien stood up and stretched a little, "Mei, will you be moving in with us?"

"I will." She answered. Damien remained silent causing her to ask, "Is there a problem my lord?"

:No." He responded, "Nothing is wrong." Damien sighed and turned to his sister, "As for you, I won't be able to have you in my army for this next battle."

"Why not?"

"For the most part, we will attack the capitol on 4 different sides." Damien explained, "I will take the east with the Xuan Empire. You will be heading out with Alex and Allen with Glinen's army to the north. Julia, Lilie, and Xixax will move to the south. Alice will advance with the remaining forces to the west."

"Then what?"

"We'll storm the castle and end Lord Davison's reign of terror once and for all."

"What about Suibhnee?" Mei questioned, "He will still be defending the capitol."

"More than likely he'll stand guard in front of the main keep." Damien explained, "I'll deal with him there."

"But if you get hurt again..."

"I'll get hurt." Damien interrupted Mei, "It's impossible to get out of a battle unscathed. You either leave the battlefield dead or wounded. Never safe." Damien turned to Mei and placed his hands on her shoulders, "It's why I'd like for you to stay here at the main camp."

"But..."

"Please Mei. The last thing I want is for you to get hurt on my behalf. Stay here, please."

Mei stared at Damien who pleaded with her to stay. Hesitantly, she bowed and answered, "Yes my lord..."

"Thank you." Damien smiled at her and turned to his sister, "Taylor, you'll need to report to Alex and Allen on the day of our assault. Do you understand?"

"Yeah..."

"Problem?"

"It just feels weird taking orders from my younger brother."

"At the moment, I'm a commander in this coalition, but once this is over, I'll be your little brother again." Damien walked over to Taylor and nudged her arm, "Maybe then, I can make put in a good name for you to the Lord."

"I'm not sure if I want to stay."

"Well, you have the choice to go back to earth. I'll be staying here." Damien proceeded to walk off saying, "It's not my choice whether you stay or not. That's up to you."

* * *

A few days later, Damien paced atop his horse before turning to his army. Xuan Shi accompanied by another woman were positioned behind him along with a large army behind them.

"My lord," Xuan Shi started, "I don't believe you've met my sister. The leader of the Xuan Empire?"

"No I haven't." Damien bowed to the woman next to Xuan Shi and introduced himself, "It is an honor to meet you Milady. I am Damien, soldier of Lord Tosho."

"There is no need to introduce yourself to me Damien." She responded, "I've heard all the rumors about you." She rode around Damien and eyed him flirtatiously, "The man who single-handily defeated Enzo and became the hero of the Black Oracle Rebellion." She smiled and chuckled, "Quite enticing if I do say so myself."

"Milady..."

"Please, call me Xuan Li. Hero."

"Uh..."

"My dear sister, do not try and seduce my lord..." Xuan Shi pleaded.

" _Your_ lord? Need I remind you that you are my sister. This means I am your lord. Am I correct or not?"

"But dear sister..."

"Nope. You're much too young to marry. Unlike myself who has yet to find a king to rule by my side."

"I'm sorry Milady..." Damien interrupted.

"Ahem..." She interrupted back.

"Right. Xuan Li. I'm afraid I'm not looking for something like that."

"Oh I know, but when the time is right, I will make you mine. Let us deal with that erogenous pig Davison, hm?"

"S-Sure..." Damien stuttered. Xuan Li rode ahead while Xuan Shi took place next to Damien, "Your sister is quite the character Xuan Shi."

"I'm so sorry my lord. I'm afraid my sister is a very... how you say..."

"Provocative woman?" Damien finished.

"Yeah..."

"By the way, she said you were too young to marry. Is this true?"

"Not technically. I'm older than Master Alice, but younger than you my lord."

"I see. Why would she say too young?"

"Because she's older than you my lord and has yet to find a fitting husband."

"How long has she exactly been ruling?"

"Just under a decade my lord."

"I see." Damien looked at the back of Xuan Li who continued to ride in front of them, "Well, let's worry about our battle, okay?"

"Yes my lord."

* * *

They traveled just a while longer until they met one of 4 gates of the Oshen Capitol. Damien stared it over until Xuan Shi joined him.

"The Oshen Capitol was built around Davison's forefathers." Xuan Shi explained, "Believe it or not, his ancestors were more benevolent than himself. However, once he took the throne, he ruled with an iron fist and placed laws down that favored him more than the people."

"It's a shame." Xuan Li rode over to them and sighed, "Such a prosperous family ruined by a despotic man."

"He'll pay for his crimes." Damien growled, "I'll start with that brother of his." Damien unsheathed his sword and dragged his fingers across it, igniting its flame, "Let's move!" He ordered, "That tyrant's reign of tyranny will end today!"

Positioned in front of castle, Damien noticed several ballistae and people hauling boulders over the edge of the castle.

"Engineers!" Damien ordered, "Prepare the siege weapons. Everyone else, hold your position until the gate is open!"

"What about those ballistae?" Xuan Shi questioned, "They'll kill us if we don't take care of them now."

"One moment." Damien hopped off his horse and sprinted towards the wall all while he dragged his blade across the ground. He leaped into the air after slamming his blade on the ground. An explosion helped him jump until he just barely grabbed the edge of the castle wall.

He lifted himself onto the wall and was confronted by a group of soldiers. He stepped back slightly and dug his foot into the ground. They all charged him with spears and they attempted to stab him, but he blocked each spear with his blade and pushed them back. He dragged his blade across the blade for a short second before slicing the air.

A large fire wall collided with the soldiers either killing them instantly, or catching them on fire. He turned to the ballistaes and got to work on them.

Xuan Shi watched on and was rather impressed by his battle prowess. Her sister joined her and cooed, "Oh dear, my young sister, you seem to have taken a real liking to him, huh?"

"N-No..." She retorted, "I am merely serving under him during this war as you ordered me to."

"That was only while you were under Davison's banner. Plus, there's no need to address him as 'your lord' dear sister." Xuan Li looked up at him and laughed, "This man will garner the hearts of all women he comes across. I just hope that he doesn't let it get in the way of battle." Xuan Li rode off to defeat more of Davison's men.

Xuan Shi gripped her glaive and shook her head, "He won't do such a thing. The last thing on his mind is women. All he cares about is killing that tyrant."

Damien finished off the last of the ballistae just in time for the rams to arrive in front of the castle, "Now we destroy this gate and our forces will have made it in." Damien however noticed behind his army that a small red dot was closing in on them, "Is that...?"

The dot chased after a group of the Xuan Imperial Army. The red dot disappeared and was immediately filled with an explosion behind their army. Xuan Li looked behind them and shouted, "What is happening?!"

Once the debris cleared, Suibhnee was seen atop his red steed. He held his halberd in his right hand since Davison chopped his other arm off as punishment. Bodies fell around him as he glared at the army, "It's Suibhnee!" A solider yelled, "Suibhnee has come to destroy us!" Suibhnee looked at the soldier and quickly sliced him in half with ease.

"Damn it..." Xuan Li growled, "Focus on the gate!" Damien landed in front of her and dragged his blade across the ground, igniting it, "No Damien!" Xuan Li shouted, "It's too dangerous to face him alone!"

"I'll hold him off." Damien growled, "Get that gate open and kill that tyrant bastard." Damien sprinted forward and leaped into the air while letting out a battle cry. Suibhnee glared at him and prepared his weapon for his duel with Damien.

Xuan Shi watched battle against Suibhnee alone and she knew he wasn't coming close beating him, "Damien..." She was about to step forward, but her sister stepped in front of her, "Li!"

"Let him handle it." Her sister responded, "We'll only be killing ourselves if we help him now." The gate behind them was destroyed and Xuan Li ordered, "Everyone! We push inside the capitol! Take Davison's head!"

* * *

Their forces poured in while Suibhnee and Damien remained outside dueling each other. Damien however was being overwhelmed by Suibhnee. He collapsed after Suibhnee kicked him back. He fell to his knee and glared at Suibhnee.

Xuan Li looked back and saw Suibhnee looming over Damien. She gripped her glaive and dug her foot in the ground. She took a deep breath and sprinted forward.

"Shi! No!" Xuan Li tried her best to stop her sister, but it as too late.

Xuan Shi leaped into the air and slammed her glaive towards Suibhnee who blocked it before it hit him. She looked on in shock. Suibhnee smirked and kicked her into Damien who caught her.

"That was stupid of you Xuan Shi."

"I was just worried about you my lord..."

"No matter." Damien helped her up and readied his weapon, "We'll fight this demon together."

"Right."

"Let's go!"

The both of them charged at Suibhnee who didn't even budge at their charge.

He dodged the first hit from Xuan Shi and parried Damien's attack. He kicked Damien after parrying him and caught Xuan Shi in the air with the rod of his halberd. He threw her to the side and attempted to slice her with his halberd, but Damien blocked it.

Damien pushed Suibhnee and helped Xuan Shi, "He's better than he was before and only with one arm." Damien growled and glared at him, "How do we take him out?"

As Damien said this, a crossbow bolt flew past him and lodged itself in one of Suibhnee's eye.

"Gah!"

"My lord!" Damien and Xuan Shi turned around to see Mei sprinting towards them while loading her crossbow again. She fired again, but Suibhnee blocked it.

"What is that girl doing?" Damien groaned.

"My lord," Xuan Shi started, "his peripheral vision is obscured."

"Hm..."

"What should we do my lord?" Xuan Shi asked just as Mei joined up with them, "We're at your command."

Damien looked at Suibhnee who was still grabbed his eye that the arrow had pierced, "Mei, I want you to go for his other eye. Completely blind him while we distract him."

"Yes my lord." Mei backed off while Damien turned to Xuan Shi.

"And me my lord?"

"We'll distract him by attacking his obscured side." He pointed to their left and ordered, "Go. I'll follow after you."

"Yes my lord." Xuan Shi ran to Suibhnee's right side and he reacted just as Damien hoped. He swung around aimlessly at that side and Xuan Shi easily dodged. Damien dragged his blade and erupted a small fire wall near Suibhnee, demoralizing him.

"Gah!" Suibhnee growled, "Come and show yourself!"

"Now Mei!" Damien ordered.

Suibhnee turned towards Mei, but it was too late. The bolt pierced his eye and he was now completely blind, "Gah! No! You can't kill me! You're all nothing! You can all go to hell!"

Damien dragged his blade on the ground and stared him down, "I'll see you there then." Damien spun around and drove his blade through Suibhnee. He forced his blade through, slicing him in half. He turned around and sliced his arms, then his legs, and last his head. Damien grabbed his head and held it high, "I, Damien of Camtou, have slain the enemy general Suibhnee!"

"H-He defeated Suibhnee." Soliders of Davison cowered, "A-Ah! Get me out of here!" Davison's soldier started to flee and even abandoned the capitol all together. Even some of his officers retreated.

"Damien," Xuan Shi started, "we now have a new wave of momentum. Now we can finally kill that tyrannical beast."

"Yes." Damien turned to Xuan Shi and Mei to say, "I couldn't have been able to defeat him on my own. I owe you two one."

"Please." Mei refuted, "It was our pleasure." Both Mei and Xuan Shi bowed before they say in unison, "My lord..."

"Haha. Let's go." Damien took out a sack and placed the arms and head of Suibhnee inside of it, "Let's see how Davison's reacts when his only true weapon is nothing but bits and pieces."

"Yes!"

* * *

Tosho watched his army march on. A soldier arrived to him and delivered news of Suibhnee's death at the hands of Damien, Xuan Shi, and Mei. He chuckled and smiled, "That man Damien. Despite being a suicider, he continues to impress me and prove that he is a just man. Haha!"

The army pushed into the main keep where Damien met with his friends and family once again, "Damien!" Julia called out, "We heard you took out Suibhnee."

"I did." Damien responded, "With the help with others of course." Damien turned to Xuan Shi and Mei who both bowed before them, "Although, I wish one of them would have stayed back like I told her." Mei blushed and looked away, "Still, I'm grateful she came."

"Well, we were ordered to allow you to take down Davison." Alice started, "So Damien, kill that tyrant." Damien nodded and walked inside alone.

He traversed the halls and eventually reached the throne room. He opened the door to see that it was empty with only Davison there cowering in fear. He looked over at Lilie and grabbed her.

"Step any closer Damien and I'll... I'll..." He smirked and behind Damien, a group of guards held spears behind him, "I'll rape her right in front of you."

Damien looked at the guards from the corner of his eyes and then back at Davison, "I don't think that's very smart." Damien ducked under and tripped the guards with his sack and quickly disposed of them with one fell swoop with his sword. He slowly turned to Davison who backed up in fear with Lilie in his grasp, "Now unhand milady and you won't have to end up like your brother."

"W-What did you do to my brother?!" Damien scoffed and tossed the sack with Suibhnee's remains in front of him. Davison stared in shock and screamed, "My brother! You... you...!"

"Unhand her!"

"I-I..." Lilie frowned and stepped on his foot, "Ow!" Lilie grabbed her sword next to the throne and sliced off one of his arms, "Ah! You bi-!" Lilie tripped Davison and wacked him with her shield, sending him tumbling down the steps.

Davison slowly looked up to see Damien looming over him, "P-Please..."

"Look at you," Damien growled, "a shell of your former family." Damien sliced off his other arm, causing him to let out another screech of pain, "Driven insane by the power you held." Then he sliced one of his legs off, "Your people begged for mercy. They begged for you to feed them. They pleaded for money. Instead you stole their produce and gold!" Then his other leg. Damien's eyes were now a dark crimson red.

Lilie looked on and held her glare at the nubbed Davison, "No more." Davison said in between sharp breaths of pain, "Please!"

"You think I'll show you mercy?! Your people begged for that and you ignored them! You deserve every ounce of pain you'll feel now and in the after life!" Damien drove his blade right in the middle of Davison's face and sliced down, "Raping women. Killing their husbands so that you can continue to rape them as you please. A man like you truly deserves worse than death."

"Damien," Lilie started as she walked down to meet him. Damien's eyes still held their crimson color. Lilie placed her hand on Damien's hand that was holding his sword, "that's enough." Damien's eyes eventually shifted back to normal. He collapsed onto one knee and shook his head, "He's dead. His reign of terror is over."

"I should've took your hand in marriage. Spending months with this monster. I couldn't even fathom it."

"Do not blame yourself Damien." Lilie proceeded to hug him and said, "I knew you would come here. I owe you a debt of gratitude, but for now, just rest." Lilie eventually felt Damien's body go limp. Lilie took a look at his back and noticed multiple arrows in it, "Hehe, arrows sure do love to pierce you..."

* * *

Days later, Damien, along with his army, rode back into the capitol of Cemis and was greeted with acclamation from the people in the capitol. Xuan Shi and Mei rode next to him while he waved to them. Behind them were Alice, Allen, Alex, and Julia all waving as well.

"All hail Master Damien!" They cheered, "All hail the Hero of Cemis!"

"Hero of Cemis." Damien mouthed, "I don't see myself as one."

"You've helped lead us to a victory over Davison my lord." Xuan Shi started, "It's obvious the people would see you."

"Not to mention your achievements in the Black Oracle Rebellion." Mei added, "You've become quite the celebrity my lord."

"I see."

* * *

Moments later, they all knelt in front of Tosho who smiled Damien and his army, "Damien, you and your army have proven to have been the deciding factor against the tyrant, Davison." He stepped down and paced around in front of him, "I do believe Damien that you wished to have a stronghold built near Camtou."

Damien looked up in shock and smiled, "Yes your highness. I wish to protect my land while still having the necessary soldiers and defenses to do so."

"I see. Well," Tosho turned to the others and said, "I hereby place you as the Prefect of the Obrana Prefecture. There, you will be positioned near your village of Camtou."

"Y-Your highness." Damien was speechless. He stood up and bowed before Tosho and said, "I thank you for this honor."

"I see to it that you will do all in your power to govern Obrana well."

"I will your highness."

Tosho looked past him at the others and nodded, "I see no problem with letting this group of fine soldiers and advisers to accompany you there." They all looked up in shock and nodded, "Very well, you are all dismissed."

Damien was ready to travel back to Camtou, but now with everyone. Everyone except Xuan Shi. She was gearing up to head back to her home, Adrium.

"Will you not accompany me?" Damien questioned, "I could really use you in Obrana."

"I'm afraid I cannot my lord. I must return to my sister's side." Xuan Shi bowed and mounted her horse, "However, I will not hesitate to arrive if you ever need our help. Remember, you have an ally in myself and my sister."

"I see." Damien bowed to Xuan Shi and said, "It was great having you at my side. If you and your sister ever need help, do not hesitate to call on us."

"We won't." Xuan Shi proceeded to ride off and called out to Damien, "It has been an honor fighting along side you my lord! Until we meet again!" And with that Xuan Shi was off at full speed to return home.

* * *

A week later, Damien stepped in front of his soldiers and advisers that consisted of Alice, Julia, Allen, Alex, Taylor, his parents, and Allen's girlfriend. He looked them and then to the troops behind them. Tosho bestowed an army of 50,000 with Damien and the Obrana Prefecture.

He looked at them all and began, "Everyone! I am an inexperienced individual on politics. However, I'm sure with everyone's help, we will be able to ensure that peace remains in not only Obrana, but throughout the land of Cemis! I only hope that all of you help me through this endeavor!"

"Yes!" They all respond while saluting.

Damien nodded and smiled before turning around towards the construction of his new base, "Now begins a new era for me." Damien said to himself, "This is where we'll maintain peace in my village."


	10. The Fall Of The Xuan Empire (The Rise of Xixax Arc)

Several months after the battle against Davison, Damien received a message from Xuan Li. It requested his assistance in Adrium. He read it over and nodded. He stood up from his desk and turned to Julia.

"Yes?"

"Relay a message to Alice. You and her will be accompanying me to Adrium to assist the Xuan Empire."

"Yes sir. How many troops would you like to deploy with you?"

"2,500. No need to be hasty with our troops."

"Right." Julia bowed and walked off.

Damien walked over to a window in his castle and sighed, "A war between others. This land will never have its much deserved peace."

After a week of traveling to Adrium, Damien, Alice, and Julia arrived with their army. They were greeted by Xuan Li and Xuan Shi.

"It is a pleasure to meet you again my lord." Xuan Shi greeted, "As is to the both of you miladies." Xuan Shi bowed, as did Damien, Alice, and Julia.

"I do take it that you understand our situation, correct?" Xuan Li asked and Damien nodded, "Good. I'll break it down however." Xuan Li ushered them to follow her to the top of the castle walls, "Xixax looks to capture my land and end the Xuan Empire. Despite the treaty his grandfather signed with my father."

"They signed a treaty to help keep the peace between your empire and his, right?" Julia questioned inciting a nod from Xuan Li, "I could understand why. Your land is rich in oil. It's your empires main source of income, correct?"

"That's right. He wishes to expand his territory and monetary gain by capturing the land our ancestors looked to protect."

"But he outnumbers you." Alice explained, "Xixax has a large and elite force of soldiers who love to fight. Facing them head on would practically be suicide."

Damien looked off the castle and noticed that Xixax army had already taken position near the castle, "Julia," he started, "do you see what I see?"

Julia took a moment look at Xixax's army and nodded, "There are 6 supply depots. It would be necessary due to the mass numbers of his army."

"Not only that, but they're connected." Damien explained, "They're all connected to one main supply base centered in between them all."

"What do you propose?" Xuan Li questioned.

"We take out those supply depots." Julia answered, "Let them attack. We'll drain their supplies and cause them to open their supply depots. When they do, we strike and demoralize their soldiers. It won't guarantee us the victory, but it'll buy us time."

"What do we do then?" Everyone remained quiet when Xuan Shi asked this, "What?"

"It's no guaranteed that we'll even win." Damien explained, "Even with my reinforcements, he still outnumbers us greatly." Damien leaned on the wall and looked at Xixax's army taking position, "We either find a way to cause him to retreat back to his home, or we die here for nothing."

"I understand that completely." Xuan Li agreed, "However, I don't wish to let go of the land my forefathers handed down to me without a fight. I just ask that you help me prolong that just a while longer."

Damien stared at Xuan Li and then to Alice and Julia. He nodded, "Julia, take command of the battle." He turned to Xuan Li and asked, "Will you allow that milady?"

"Very well then." She turned to Julia and bowed, "Please do what you can to ensure us a victory Master Julia."

"I will milady." Julia bowed back, "I will need some time to assess the battlefield. Give me about a day. I will have my readings then." They all nodded and left Julia alone, "We can't risk attacking supply depots. I have to think of a way to make them retreat without going for those supply depots."

* * *

Later that night, Alice joined Julia who still remained on the castle wall, "Good evening Julia." Alice started.

"Good evening Alice." She returned, "I'm just about done with my assessment."

"That's good." Alice stared at the army as well and held a look of grief.

Julia noticed this and asked, "Is something wrong Alice?"

"Fighting this for them." Alice answered, "Even if we win this initial skirmish, there's no guarantee that the Xuan Empire will win."

"So you're worried that we're in the crossfire of something we can't win." Alice nodded and Julia sighed, "This wasn't our choice. Damien does have a debt to repay Xuan Shi and she requested him at the expense of her sister."

"Still, I worry about our losses."

"I understand. There's no avoiding this however." Julia turned around and proceeded to walk off the wall, "I have my assessment. I will announce it tomorrow. Best to get some rest milady."

Alice continued staring at the battlefield in front of them and shook her head, "Our world is falling apart." She turned towards the interior of the castle and said, "Maybe Damien is having that effect..." She immediately shook her head, "No. He can't be... He can't..."

* * *

That next day, Julia briefed Xuan Li, Damien, Xuan Shi, and Alice on her assessment, "So, from what I saw, each of their units are in the wedge formation. They're ready to charge and attack with full force." Julia explained, "Not to mention they have a large mass of siege weapons. trebuchets, rams, and siege towers. They're ready to destroy this castle if they need to."

"So what's our plan?"

"They'll more than likely try and drain us of our own sources before their own." Julia explained, "We'll need some of our forces to box in around the castle. Just to offer some defenses before their siege weapons arrive."

"I'll remain within the capitol with Xuan Li." Damien offered.

"Oh." Xuan Li cooed, "I'm fine with that." Xuan Li wrapped her arms around Damien who pushed her off instantly.

"Julia, you're the commander." Damien stated, "So you will command the rest of the army."

"Alright." Julia began, "I'll need some of our engineers to perform some fortifications along the walls of the castle." Julia paced around and listed her fortifications, "I'll need some arrow slits, machicolations, and maybe replacing our regular gate with a portcullis."

"That'll take time." Xuan Shi explained, "But if we get everyone to pitch in, we might be able to get these fortifications done."

"I'm sure I can get to work on the wood for the portcullis." Damien responded, "Leave me a moment to cut the wood and our blacksmiths can get to work on the spikes."

"I'll be sure to lend a hand if needed." Xuan Li teased, "Maybe more than a hand."

"Yeah no." Damien stepped back and sighed, "You'll need to remain safe in your quarters milady."

"Hmph..." Xuan Li pouted and crossed her arms, "Very well then. I'll be waiting for you there though Damien." Xuan Li winked and chuckled.

"Okay." Julia slowly started again, "Alice, I'd like for you to help me make some arrows for archers."

"I'll work with some of our engineers to get to some wall fortifications and Damien." Xuan Shi turned to Damien and asked, "When you have the time, can you get work on some fire bombs?"

"I can." He responded, "Just give me some time and I'll have a good amount ready."

"I see it that we have our plans." Julia smiled and looked up the wall, "We need to get to work everyone! Let's go!"

* * *

After several days of preparations, Julia noticed Xixax's forces moving in on their castle. Julia yelled out, "Defensive positions! The enemy army is on the move!" Soldiers started piling out of the castle and got in block formation.

Xixax's army position their cavalry in the front with shieldmen behind accompanied by foot soldiers. Each wedge had their commanding officers behind them.

"Their numbers..." Julia spoke in shock, "It's more than I ever imagined." She shook her head and looked over to the archers on the top of the castle walls, "Their numbers mean nothing! Prepare your bows archers!" The archers nodded and prepared themselves, "Hold until I say!"

She waited for their forces to get closer. She held her fist up and scrunched her face, "Hold it!" She yelled, "Hold it!" She repeated before unballing her fists and yelling, "Now!" A large volley of arrows was fired at the advancing army and mass numbers of Xixax's forces were killed, leaving holes in their formations.

"Keep delaying their forces!" Julia ordered, "Keep them back so that we have time to prepare our frontline!"

* * *

Damien and Xuan Li watched from the balcony of her quarters, "You know this will only delay the inevitable milady." Damien stated, "Our resources will be depleted before Xixax's will."

"I know, but I want my sister to learn when to give up and when to give in." She responded, "When the time to give in comes, please take care of my sister. She looks up to you."

"I know." Damien looked over to Xuan Li who had tears streaming down her face, "I will do my best to extend your bloodline. So do not cry milady."

She wiped the tears from her eyes and shot warming smile at him, "I'm just happy you accepted our plea for help. Despite this being practically suicide..."

"You know me milady." Damien joked, "I know a lot about suicide."

Xuan Li smiled and asked, "Damien. Can you turn to me for a moment?"

"Yes?" As soon as he turned around, Xuan Li smashed his lips onto his. She held the kiss for a moment before breaking apart, "Milady?"

"I just wanted to remember something before the inevitable..."

"I understand..."

"Also Damien," she started, "tonight, can you come back to my chambers?"

"Yes I can milady..."

* * *

Back on the wall, Julia watched the frontline fend off Xixax's assault and noticed something odd about them, "They're not doing a full assault." She spoke to herself, "They have the numbers to do so. Why won't they?" She glared off into the distance and saw another force of Xixax's forces advance, "More?" She growled and turned to the archers, "Ready your bows!" She turned back saw that they had halted their advance, "They stopped..."

"Commander Julia!" One of the archers called out, "They're pulling back!"

Julia looked down and saw that their short skirmish had ended and Xixax's forces were pulling back along with the other large force, "No!" She yelled, "Don't let them get away! Scorched earth!"

"What is that woman thinking?" Damien wondered from the balcony, "I'll be back milady." Damien hopped out of the room and ran to the wall, "She can't see that it's a feint. They'll pull us in and deceive us!" Damien ran up the wall and yelled, "Pull back within the castle!"

"Damien?" Julia questioned, "What are you doing? We have to lower their provisions."

"Don't you see?" Damien responded, "They're feinting. They're trying to fool you. They're luring our troops in for an ambush." Damien's looked down at the troops that were now retreating back into the castle, "We don't have a large amount of provisions. We have to be weary of whatever mental tactics they'll try."

"I-I..."

"You're still inexperienced, but moments like this are a good opportunity to learn about strategies of war."

"I'm sorry Damien."

"It's okay. Just take a rest. It'll be a while before they attack again." Damien looked at their retreat and shook his head, "They can spare troops. We can't. We have to be conservative."

"I'm so sorry Damien" Julia apologized again, "Even after all my studying on strategies, I seem to let my instinct control my actions."

"Your instinct is usually your best weapon, but it's what you're instinct is telling you that will determine your next action." Damien turned around and ushered her to follow him, "I'd like to discuss a strategy that will work in the next skirmish."

"Hm?"

* * *

In the council room, Damien explained his strategy to Xuan Li, Xuan Shi, Julia, and Alice, "I've taken the time to learn that each of their assaults will house cavalry at the helm of their attacks. The best we can do is negate their advance by setting up barricades that would make it difficult for their horses to pass."

"I know what you're referring to." Julia added, "In the Battle of Nagashino, the Oda/Tokugawa alliance created makeshift barriacades to stop those horses. They had pikesmen and riflemen to stop them in their tracks. However, there's no way we could create a mass amount of rifles in a short amount of time."

"No, but I think we can begin production on a sword that would help against horses." Damien commented, "It's called Zhonmadao."

"I've heard of that." Xuan Shi interrupted, "It's a sword that's specifically made for slicing a horse's leg off. I'm sure we can mass produce some before the next assault."

"Right." Damien nodded, "It's best we get to work as soon as possible before Xixax's forces have a time to recuperate."

"Right!"

That night, Damien made his way to Xuan Li's quarters, but stopped when he saw Alice along the hall. He didn't mind her all too much until she asked, "Why did she call you to her room?"

"I'm not sure. I'm heading there to find out now."

"Damien, I know you're just repaying a debt, but how long do you tend to keep repaying it?"

"Alice," Damien started, "I'm only doing this to fulfill my debt to them." He turned to her and said, "I also made a promise to Xuan Li. We've already accepted the fact that a victory isn't possible. I promised her that I will take Xuan Shi with us back to Obrana and continue the Xuan Bloodline."

Alice grabbed the skirt of her dress and closed her eyes. Damien stared at her back and shook his head, "Milady..."

"No..." She interrupted him, "I respect your decision. You are technically my lord, so I will allow you to do as you please." Alice stormed off leaving Damien alone in the hall.

He sighed and turned around back towards Xuan Li's quarters. Once he arrived at her door and knocked, "You wanted to see my milady?"

"Please come in Damien." She called out from inside. Damien entered and saw her dressed in a light pink night gown, "I'm glad you came."

"I can already assume as to why you called me here."

"Really now?" She cooed, "Please do tell."

"You're a virgin." He quickly answered.

"O-Oh..."

"Since you know that you won't be surviving this battle against Xixax, you wish for me to take your virginity so that you won't die a virgin."

"Wow..." Xuan Li chuckled and scratched the back of her head, "I guess it wasn't that hard to figure out what I wanted."

"My only questions is if you really want me to be the one to do that." Damien questioned, "Are you sure there isn't anyone else?"

"Not really." She sat on her bed and sighed, "The minute I heard of your actions during the Black Oracle, I thought you were just some figment of my imagination. No man could be this skilled in battle and still maintain their title as a Suicider. Then I met you on the battlefield." She sighed in ecstacy, "I just had love for you instantly."

"It seems I have that effect on a lot of women." Damien chuckled, "But if you're really up for it," Damien sat next to and took a hold of her hand, "then I'll be glad to do you this favor."

"Well," Xuan Li wrapped her arms around and said, "do you have experience in this?"

"I might." He teased, "I'll take the lead..." And with that, the two fell onto the bed together.

* * *

Outside the room, Julia leaned on the door and stared at the ground. She sighed and walked off. She approached the castle wall and watched over the enemy camps. She noticed the smoke rising from the camps and nodded, "I see..."

However, while overlooking the battlefield, her eyes flashed to Damien and Xuan Li in bed. She shook her head and leaned over the edge of the wall, "I have to let him do as he pleases. He's doing it for her well-being. Besides, I'm his friend and subordinate." She paused and repeated, "Subordinate..."

"Thinking about our lord?" Alice started behind Julia, "I'm sure you're probably thinking about what they're doing in there, right?"

"It's... lingering back there." She responded.

"Your past life with our lord must have been something difficult." Alice laughed, "You loved him and he loved you. However, you two never got together with one another."

"That's right." Julia turned towards Alice and sighed, "But right now, I have much more on my plate than my feelings for him. Besides, I'm his adviser and strategist. I have to think about doing what's best for him and our prefecture."

She nodded and joined her at the side, "I'll be looking forward to seeing you work as his subordinate Julia."

"I'm hoping not to disappoint you or your family." She looked ahead and smirked, "Let's do what we can and win this battle."

* * *

After several weeks of skirmishes and sieges, the morale of the Damien-Xuan Coalition were plummeting from the constant sieges. Losses were heavy on their side as well. Their force of 60,000 were now diminished to only 12,500. Rations were low and it became eminent that defeat was nigh.

"Damien," Xuan Li started, "it might be time to pull your army back." Damien remained silent and shook his head. He walked over to the bed in her room and grabbed his sword, but Xuan Li stopped, "Damien please..."

"Milady, if I don't make myself known on that frontline..."

"If you do, they'll attack with even more force." She grabbed his sleeve and pleaded with him, "Please, this castle does not have much left. You need to pull your forces back!"

"I can't!" He yelled, "I can't give up yet!"

"Damien..." She muttered, "You have to stay alive to look after my sister. You have to..." Damien turned around to see Xuan Li crying, "Please..."

Damien stared at her for a second and was about to say something, but a large explosion was heard outside her room. Damien ran to the balcony and saw multiple explosions on the wall, "Looks like we have no choice but to join the fight." Damien grabbed his sword and looked at Xuan Li, "We have to go."

"I-I know... just give me a moment." Xuan Li took a few deep breaths before nodding, "Alright," she grabbed her sword and ran over to Damien, "let's go."

Julia stumbled around on the wall and stared at what caused the explosions, "Cannons!" She yelled, "Pull back inside the castle!" She ordered.

"Julia!" Alice yelled from below, "We have to get ready to pull out of here!"

"I know! I'm waiting until Damien gives the order!" Julia noticed Damien and Xuan Li joining them, "Damien, milady! What are you doing out here so early?!"

"We're joining the battle." He answered, "We'll hold on until I give our order to pull out of Adrium."

"Wait!" Xuan Shi interrupted, "Pull out?!" She grabbed his collar and yelled, "You're just going to abandon us just when things are getting bad?! I thought I could trust you!"

Alice quickly reacted and drew her sword at Xuan Shi, "Unhand my lord now or I'll make you myself."

"A-Alice..." Julia tried to defuse the situation, but Damien interrupted her.

"Xuan Shi, please listen to me." Damien slowly moved Xuan Shi's hand from his collar and said, "There is just too much at stake for whatever is left of my force to stay here. If we don't pull out now, we'll all be dead."

"But..."

Damien looked past them and noticed a cannonball heading straight for them, "Move!" He pushed Xuan Shi out the way and leaped into the air, "Aura Of Protection!" He yelled. A white aura covered Damien as he attempted to block the cannonball from landing at full force. However, the cannonball exploded in mid-air, sending Damien into a nearby house. The house fell on top of him and he was able to prevent any other type of collateral damage.

"Damien!" Julia and Alice ran over to help Damien out of the house while Xuan Li stayed back with her sister.

"My dear sister, I already agreed to stay back here while you go with Damien to Obrana."

"No! I can't leave you here!" Xuan Shi hugged her sister and cried into her chest, "I can't leave you when things are this bad!"

"I'm sorry, but one of us has to survive so that our lineage can continue."

"Then I'll stay! I'll stay and you can escape with Damien."

"I'm afraid that can't happen. You're young and beautiful. If you stay, you'll be captured and..." Xuan Li paused and held her sister's face while wiping her tears away, "the gods forbid me from even fathoming what would happen to you if they captured you. It would be a fate worse than death."

"But sister..."

"Xuan Shi, listen to me sweetie," Xuan Li's tone changed to a more worried, sisterly tone, "Please go with Damien when he says he's pulling out of here, okay? Please. You must continue our family lineage."

Damien limped over to them and sighed, "We'll remain here for as long as we can." He started, "However, when things go south, we need to fall back to Obrana." Damien groaned as he held his abdomen, "I doubt I'll be here long. I think uh..." Blood started to trickle from Damien's garb and he shook his head, "I might bleed out."

"You need to leave now then." Xuan Li ordered, "You can't stand let alone fight."

"I can't abandon just yet..." Damien refuted in between sharp breaths, "Not just yet..."

"They're scaling the wall!" One of the archers on the roof shouted. Xixax's soldiers started to scale the wall and taking out the archers.

"You have to go!" Xuan Li shouted, "Get him on a horse and leave!"

"But sister!"

"Just remember what I said." She quietly said, "Stick with Damien." Xuan Li unsheathed her sword and stepped forward towards the wall, "Show them where the secret passage is." She stood with her remaining soldiers and looked up at the wall. Part of it came down along with the gate being broken in, "Just go! Continue our legacy dear sister!"

Xuan Shi looked at her sister from behind and saw her nod at her. Xuan Shi took a deep breath and helped Damien balance himself, "Let's go." They ran off while Xuan Li stayed behind.

Xuan Li had tears flowing down her face as she muttered, "Please be safe my dear sister..."

* * *

Later that day, they successfully arrived in Tosho's territory, Aclaria, currently under the governing of Lilie. The gates to Aclaria opened with Lilie the first to greet them. However, her greeting was interrupted when she saw Damien.

"Oh no." She rushed over to them and called out, "We need some medical assistance!" She looked at Xuan Shi and instantly knew, "Damn that Xixax. Can't we have a moments peace?"

Everyone stood outside Lilie's quarters and waited for his condition. Eventually, Lilie walked out with another woman.

"What's his condition?" Julia asked.

"Right now, he has some broken ribs and a bruised sternum." The woman answered, "He has a major gash along his abdomen which was causing the massive bleeding." She sighed and added, "He's very lucky to be alive. That Protection Aura is what allowed him to survive."

"Thank you Fodhla." Lilie thanked inciting a bow from her before leaving. Lilie turned to Xuan Shi who held an enraged glare at the ground, "Xuan Shi..."

"That bastard..." She punched the wall and shook her head, "He almost took away two people I care about. He took my sister and nearly took my lord..."

"Sister," Alice started, "does our father know of Xixax's actions?"

"He does, but he won't do anything until it becomes his problem." Lilie looked at Xuan Shi who looked ready to get back into action, but she stopped her, "Don't go Xuan Shi."

"Why not?!" She yelled back, "I must avenge my sister!"

"Avenge her and then what?" Damien called out from inside the room.

"Huh?" Everyone burst into the room to see Damien sitting up, "Damien..."

"You get your revenge and then what?" Damien asked, "You end up dead like your sister and my promise to her is broken. I promised her that I would do all I can to protect you and continue your family lineage. I know you want to avenge your sister, but doing it recklessly will only lead to more unnecessary death."

"But..."

"We'll avenge Xuan Shi, but for now, our forces need to recuperate. I'm in no fighting condition and all the troops I arrived with are dead."

Xuan Shi looked at Damien and eventually nodded, "I will do as you wish my lord..."

"Stay here tonight. Once I'm healed, we'll head back to Obrana and move to the Zhong Nation."

"The Zhong?" Julia questioned, "Why are we heading to the Zhong Nation?"

"The Zhong is small and is in the path of Xixax's conquest." Damien explained, "Lilie, can you lend us some troops when we move out?"

"I will move with your forces personally." She responded, "I owe you for saving me from Davison. Just pass by here and we'll move out with you."

"We don't need a large force. We just need to bring the Zhong to our territory. I'm sure Xixax wold want to start Total War between himself and Tosho."

"I'll report to my father when you all leave later." Lilie commented, "He probably won't do anything to help the Zhong, but he'll prepare his own defenses for the time being."

"Julia," Damien started, "I'll need you to remain in Obrana and do the same."

"Are you sure you don't want me going with you?"

"I'm sure. I'll need you to prepare whatever forces we have left before the war against Xixax."

"I understand."

"For now," Alice interrupted, "just rest your body. We'll move back to Obrana as soon as you're better."

"Yeah." Damien laid back down and sighed, "Xuan Shi, please remain here, okay?"

"I will my lord." She responded, "If it is what you wish..."


	11. The Zhong

A month after escaping Xixax's army, Damien, Alice, Lilie, and Xuan Shi moved to the Zhong territory, Tacron. They arrived at Tacron with 1,000 troops. 200 from Damien and 800 from Lilie.

Damien turned to Lilie and said, "I thought we agreed on 200 Lilie."

"I wanted to be secure." Lilie retorted, "You lost 2,500 hundred last month and I don't want you to be added to that."

"Whatever." Damien looked at the castle gate and on the wall, a person loomed on top of it, "Let us in!" He ordered.

"State your name!" The person demanded, "I can't let anyone in that is of suspicious character!"

"Suspicious?" Damien questioned.

"Open the gate now!" Lilie ordered, "We are Lilie Matet and Damien from Tosho."

The gate quickly opened to reveal an older man with a young girl around the same age as Lilie, "So that's the head of the Zhong Nation?"

"That's Zhong Xue." Lilie explained, "He's 74 years old and lost his wife years ago. All he has is his daughter. He's tried to arrange a marriage between his daughter and others, including my brother. However, I don't think my father would allow it after our last... arranged marriage."

"Right."

"I always remembered his daughter being extremely nice." Alice commented, "I don't think she would be all that bad for our brother."

"Probably, but our father is extremely on edge after the whole Davison debacle." After saying this, they turned to Zhong Xue just as he made his way to them.

"It is an honor to meet your acquaintance Lord Lilie." Zhong Xue started, "And it is a definite honor to meet you Damien."

"The honor is all mine." Both Damien and Lilie respond.

"What brings you to my nation?"

"We do take it that you heard about what happened to the Xuan Empire, right?" Damien quickly asked.

Zhong Xue looked over at Xuan Shi who hid her face from him. He solemnly nodded and said, "I do. Xixax taking this opportunity to attack smaller nations..."

"He's doing it to increase his own power to take on Lord Tosho in the future." Damien interrupted.

"Total war is immanent then." Zhong Xue continued, "What will you do?"

"We will take you and whoever we can to Tosho's territory." Damien explained, "It's best to let Xixax take this land to prevent anymore bloodshed for the time being."

"I understand."

"Wait!" The voice from earlier called out, "We can't give up." A young man ran up to them bolstering a voulge on his back, "We have to fight off his army."

"That's not smart." Damien retorted, "He'll attack with everything. Siege weapons, massive numbers, and no amount of preparation and strategy could defeat him. You'd only delay the inevitable."

"The least you can be is optimistic." The young man demanded.

"I'm being realistic." Damien fired back. He placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and asked, "Who the hell is this?"

"You'll have to excuse him. He's my nephew whom I've taken in. His name is Yan Hu. He's not very experienced."

"I can tell."

"Tch. Why should we listen to a suicider? Your accolades hold no collection when you're a suicider."

Alice and Lilie were about to speak up, but Xuan Shi stood in front of Damien, "How dare you speak of my lord in that way! He defeated the Black Oracle, Suibhnee, and Davison. He is a godsend for this land!"

"He was suppose to protect your land." Yan Hu retorted, "What happened there?"

"He tried his best! He's telling all of you that defending this place will only lead to more death and destruction. He's being realistic! Not optimistic!"

"Yeah. Tell that to your sister..."

Xuan Shi was about to grab her sword, but Damien was way ahead of her. He drew his sword and held it just centimeters away from Yan Hu's throat. Everyone turned to Damien, whose eyes were crimson red, like they were when he killed Davison.

"Damien..." Alice slowly muttered.

"They're red again..." Lilie mouthed.

* * *

Inside Damien's head, he stood in a crimson void. It was dark with the only light being the crimson aura at his feet. He looked around and shook his head.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because," A voice answered, "that little brat needs to be taught a little something called respect."

"Making him shit his garments is not the way to do it."

"He's young. A young man cannot learn respect if he's eased into it. He has to be delivered it on a silver, serrated platter."

"Just give me control back."

"Hmph. You'll learn to... let me in..."

* * *

Outside, Damien looked at Yan Hu and sighed. He sheathed his sword and turned to Zhong Xue, "Get whoever you can and prepare to move at dawn."

"Yes Damien." Zhong Xue bowed and left Yan Hu who was still shaken up by Damien's action.

Zhong Xue's daughter, Zhong Cai, stayed and said, "Please excuse Yan Hu. He is _very_ inexperienced and solely relies on his instinct. Please do not think negatively of him."

"It's fine." Damien responded, "He's young."

"Anyway, I will allow all of you to stay within the castle for the day." She ushered everyone to follow her into the castle, "Just follow me and we'll head over to where you'll be staying."

They followed her inside the castle and Alice probed Damien, "My lord." She quietly muttered.

"Yes?"

"What happened back there? Your eyes were... blood-like."

"My eyes...?" Damien touched around his eyes and shook his head, "I-It's nothing. I don't notice any changes."

"On another note," Lilie interrupted, "what do you think of Zhong Xue's daughter?"

"Why do you ask that?"

"Just wondering." She cooed, "My sister told me you and Xuan Li got some action before her untimely death."

"She requested it." Damien answered, "She knew she would die and didn't want to die a virgin. So I took her virginity."

"What about you my lord?" Xuan Shi questioned, "Were you a virgin before having sex with my sister?"

"I don't know how it works here since I reincarnated, but I lost my virginity on Earth. I don't necessarily know if that's how it works. Do I retain my virginity when I'm reincarnated?"

"Yes." Lilie answered, "So that means you also lost your virginity again." Lilie sighed and looked forward, "And to think I would be the one to do so."

"Sister..." Alice growled.

"Oh right. My little sister thought she'd be the one to do so." Lilie teased.

"L-Lilie!" Alice shouted at her sister.

"Quiet you two." Damien demanded, "Don't yell like a bunch of kids in public." He looked ahead and saw people cowering in fear, "Do people still fear me for being a suicider?"

"Yes." Zhong Cai answered, "Despite your actions against the Black Oracle and Davison, they still deem you a threat. I guess it's because our nation never really felt the danger from Davison or the Black Oracle."

"Hm." Damien stopped and looked around, "If that's the case, the people will more than likely not like that I'm the one bringing him back to Lord Tosho's territory."

"My father would more than likely want to bring everyone to Lord Tosho's territory." Zhong Cai commented, "Moving that many people would take days if not weeks."

"Not to mention the illness and fatigue it would bring to the people." Alice added, "This just spells trouble."

"Right." Lilie looked behind her at the soldiers outside and shook her head, "We should've brought more troops."

"We'll have to make do with what we have in case Xixax attempts to hit us while we're on the move." Damien turned around and walked off.

"Damien." Alice called out, "Where are you going?"

"Just go with Zhong Cai." Damien answered while walking off.

"It's best to just leave him be." Lilie commented, "Please continue showing us where we'll be staying Zhong Cai."

"Just follow me."

* * *

Later that night, Damien rode around the area looking around for Xixax's forces, "I have to see where they are if they advance." Damien looked around aimlessly and stopped once he hit a cliff-edge. He sighed and hopped off his horse. He stood at the edge of the cliff and looked down.

Once he looked down, he flashed back to the moment he fell off the parking garage. He stared down and said, "That moment is what changed me and my friends' lives forever." He took a seat next to his horse and sighed, "For better or for worse is something time will tell..."

"Is that so?" Damien turned around to see Zhong Cai behind him, "Alice and Lilie were worried about you, so I decided to follow you after you left."

"Not very smart of you to do something like that." Damien stood up and looked over the cliff, "I was just trying to figure out where Xixax's army would come from."

"I'm sure you can see them." Zhong Cai commented while she joined him on the cliff-side.

"Huh?"

"Can you not see his forces?" She pointed far past the horizon and said, "You can see a light cloud of smoke far in the distance. I would say maybe 20 li from our current position."

"I can't see that."

"I guess that's part of my family." Zhong Cai explained, "Our family has a passive ability known as God's Eye. It allows us to see far beyond what any normal person can see."

"So wait. 20 li is just over 6 miles. That allows you to see that far?"

"Yes. That's about the length of it though. My father told me that the older I get, the more defined my eyesight will be."

"That's actually very interesting. I've spent time learning magic since I came here." He took out his sword and dragged his fingers across. Like usual, his sword ignited with a bright flame, "This being one of the first ones I learned."

"That's a spell only for that specific blade."

"Really?"

"Do you not know about that sword?"

"Not really. I've had it since I've been here." Damien scratched the back of his head and sighed, "To think I've been here for over a year now. It blows my mind when I think about it."

"And of your friends? Julia, Allen, and Alex?"

"Not just them, but my sister and parents. Even Allen's girlfriend." Damien looked below and had a flashback to when he jumped again. He grabbed his head and stumbled back.

"Are you thinking of your suicide?"

"Yeah."

"What was going through your mind when you took that leap?"

Damien remained silent and rubbed his head, "That it would finally be over. That I would've finally ended the life of my tormenting mind." He slowly took a seat on the ground before slowly laying down and staring at the sky, "Little did I know, I was _accidentally_ given a second chance."

"Have you questioned why you were given a second chance?"

"It's constantly on my mind. Why was I given this chance if I wasn't suppose to have it?" Damien looked up at Zhong Cai who smiled at warmly at him, "Part of me thinks it's to ease the chaos rising, but I only see the need to protect my village."

"And yet, here you are more than halfway across the world to protect a group of people you don't know much about."

"I actually know quite a bit about you?"

"Really now?" Zhong Cai took a seat next to Damien and asked, "Tell me."

"Well, I've read that you learned how to read books when you were only 3 and that you memorized the Cemis Book Of War Strategies a year later."

"Haha. Those books love to overstate info about me. I was young when I did all that, but not when I was 3 or 4." Zhong Cai laughed and wiped a tear from her eye. Damien couldn't help but stare at her, "Is something wrong?"

"N-No." Damien stuttered, "You just uh..."

"Yes?"

"It's nothing." Damien stood up and mounted his horse, "Let's head back now. If Xixax is really near, then we'll have to leave sooner than planned."

"Okay?" Zhong Cai agreed. Damien looked at her for second before riding off, "Hmph." Zhong Cai crossed her arms and sighed, "Not even going to wait on a lady?" She slyly smirked and chuckled, "He's quite cute when he's bashful."

* * *

That next morning, Zhong Xue met with Damien and his forces in front of his castle. He was accompanied by all of the people from within including his soldiers.

"This is a lot of people to bring back." Damien started, "We'll have to get to the closest nation under Lord Tosho's Banner."

"That would be the Proica Prefecture under my rule." Lilie answered, "It's to the east."

"Don't we have to cross a massive river for that?" Alice wondered, "If we take too long to cross, then Xixax will more than likely try and burn it down."

"We move as much as we can." Damien ordered, "Remaining still for too long will be problematic." Damien turned to Zhong Xue and asked, "Can you fight if necessary?"

"I might be old but," Zhong Xue twirled his double-ended trident and nodded, "I still have some fight in me yet."

"Don't forget me." Zhong Cai interrupted. She wielded a long rapier-like weapon, "Milady," She looked at Alice and dragged her finger across her blade causing sparks of lightning to shoot out while doing so, "your rapier seems a little... small."

"W-What?"

"I'll take the forefront." Yan Hu interrupted, "Better than a suicider doing it."

"Whatever." Damien scoffed, "I'll be sure to bury you somewhere nice."

"H-How dare you!"

"Silence Yan Hu." Zhong Xe ordered, "Let's get moving before Xixax closes in on us."

"Right."

* * *

The large group traveled for nearly a week. Their pace was slow due to the amount of people moving and the need to rest. No refugees were lost at the current time, but that was about change.

"Report!" A soldier ran up to Damien and said, "Xixax's troops are advancing at our rear. They're moving at breakneck speed!"

Damien looked back and turned around, "Get going!" He ordered, "I'll hold them off at the bridge."

"No." Alice refuted, "Not unless I'm going with you."

"Milady..."

"No. I'm not letting you get hurt on my behalf again my lord." Alice turned to Lilie and asked, "Can you lead the people for us?"

"I will." Lilie answered, "Also, don't get to crazy you two."

"I-I...!"

"Stop bickering you two." Damien demanded, "Let's go milady." Damien rode behind their army with Alice following behind.

Yan Hu attempted to ride off with them, but Zhang Xue stopped him, "Do not go Yan Hu."

Yan Hu gritted his teeth before yelling, "I hope you know that you're letting a suicider put the safety of these people in his hands." Yan Hu turned back to the front and rode off ahead them.

"That boy is a fool." Zhong Cai commented, "I can't believe you wanted him to my husband."

Zhang Xue sighed and turned to Lilie, "Let us keep moving Master Lilie."

"Right."

* * *

Damien and Alice eventually arrived at a shallow stream and saw Xixax's army closing in. They noticed that it was only Damien and Alice which brought their assault to a halt.

Xixax's general, Cormac, rode in front of his forces and smirked, "Damien, Alice, you two are quite foolish to think you could hold off our army with only yourselves."

Damien slowly unsheathed his blade and kept a straight face. He pointed his sword at Cormac and then to the rest of his army and shouted, "I am not afraid of large numbers. I have fought bigger and greater throughout my year here on Cemis!"

"Damien..." Alice softly muttered.

"I, Damien of Obrana, shall remain here to allow them to escape." Damien took a deep breath and shouted, "Any of those who seek death...!" He looked at Alice and ushered her to cover her ears.

Cormac saw this and ordered his men, "C-Cover your ears!"

But it was too late, "Step forward!" Damien shouted causing a massive sonicwave to shoot towards Cormac's forces. Multiple soldiers' ears proceeded to burst and they died from the shock and fear of Damien. He scoffed and shouted again, "Bring it on!"

Alice slowly removed her hands from ears and asked, "When did you learn the Power Shout?"

"I'm full of tricks Alice." He turned to her and laughed, "Just watch this." Damien dragged his blade on the ground and sliced in the air 3 times. 3 shockwaves shot out of his blade, colliding with the ground in front of Cormac's forces. This ignited a fire in front of his forces, blocking their path.

"Tch..."

"Let's get going Alice."

"Did you really need me here?"

"No. You offered to come with me."

"Well, I was worried that you would get hurt again."

"Alice," Damien placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed, "I'm still not geared up for a fight. My abdomen still hurts and I don't have the strength I had before."

"I understand that but..."

"Don't worry about me milady." He reassured her, "Still, we'll have to prepare for a total war between us and Xixax. He has the entire west in his grasp not to mention the numbers."

"What do you think will happen at the end of it?"

"I'm sorry to say this, but I doubt your father will live to see the end of this chaos?"

"Huh?"

"I don't know, but I just sense some dread within his ranks. Like, someone is planning to use this chaos to their advantage."

"You're thinking someone wants to assassinate my father?!"

"That's right. It's only a hunch and it might not be accurate. But if people really want to capture that throne and the power to rule this land in place of the gods; then they'll do it during our war against Xixax."

"I..."

"Like I said, it might just be a farce." Damien looked up at the sky and shook his head, "Something I hope that won't come true."

"Damien..."

"Let's just quickly catch up to the rest. Come on."

"Right."

The two quickly rode quickly back to the group on their way back to Tosho's territory. A war was beginning and there will be many, many deaths. Damien can only see that someone will take advantage of this chaos. To him, he wants to know when and how they'll do so...


	12. Battle Of Aclaria

Damien, Alice, and Lilie met with Lord Tosho and Glinen in the capitol. Zhong Xue and his people were already in the safety of a nearby nation while they met with Lord Tosho.

"So Xixax finally decided to make his move." Lord Tosho nodded and crossed his arms, "We have the numerical advantage, but his soldiers are trained to fight until the end. They have never ending energy and can go days without proper food and water. This will be a difficult war indeed."

"The best plan of action is to split our forces." Glinen offered, "Xixax's capitol is in the Northeast. If we attack his empire on 3 sides, he won't have the ability to meet us all at the same time."

"We'll have to be weary about his numbers however." Damien stated, "Fighting them with the Xuan before their demise shows how much tenacity and energy they put into their attacks. No matter what we did to try and stop their momentum was all for nothing."

"We don't have the soldiers to have a full on assault against Xixax." Alice explained, "But our brother's strategy could work."

"Divide and conquer." Lilie commented, "If we divide Xixax's army by dividing his army; then maybe his soldier's never-ending momentum won't be much of a problem."

"That could work." Damien agreed, "My army can begin the campaign north."

"Will you need more troops?" Tosho questioned, "We understand that you lost 2,500 hundred helping the Xuan Empire."

"We will." Damien answered, "With the amount I have now, I would be spreading my forces thin in order to combat Xixax's army."

"I understand. I will lend you 100,000."

"That should suffice." Damien turned around and ushered Alice to follow him, "We'll head back to Obrana in the morning. Be sure to give the Zhong my regards."

"Before you leave Damien," Tosho interrupted, "Zhong Cai will be moving with you back to Obrana. She will bring 20,000 troops with her."

"I see. That would surely help."

"I hope it does."

Damien nodded and walked off.

* * *

A week later, Damien paced around his office where Julia, Allen, Alex, Taylor, Alice, Xuan Shi, Zhong Cai and his parents were waiting on his decision.

"Our opponent is Xixax." Damien began, "We already know that his troops are bred to fight until the very end. Often fighting until their last breath." He turned to Julia and asked, "Do we know anything else?"

"They specialize in fast, fierce assaults." Julia explained, "Often using vast numbers and siege weapons to demoralize their enemy. We experienced that first hand in Adrium."

"Anything else?"

"When we fought with him against Davison," Allen began, "we noticed that his troops could not fight if they did not have the proper supplies."

"They also look to have no training." Alex added, "Yeah they have the bare minimum down, but they just aimlessly fight. They fight to the end, but that usually doesn't last long."

"I noticed that too." Taylor agreed, "His soldiers just fight blindly and sporadically. Almost like a bat out of hell."

"I see..."

"What are you suggesting my lord?" Xuan Shi asked.

"Lilie's army will take the midpoint. Glinen will take the south. We have the north. This means we have the knowledge of terrain on our side." Damien stared out his window and pointed at them, "We use ambushes. Split his army up and strike when they least expect. In order to defeat large numbers, you must split them and catch them by surprise."

"Divide and conquer." Alice simplified.

"Something he tried to do to us in Adrium." Damien turned around and said, "Alex, Taylor, prepare to march. Round up 50,000 troops and be ready to move at dawn." He turned to Allen and ordered, "Allen, I want you to gather 20,000 along with your girlfriend and arrive in Aclaria in 2 weeks."

"Why so long?" Allen questioned.

"Don't worry. I don't think we'll be fighting for long."

* * *

That next morning, Damien was on the move with his army with Taylor and Alex behind him. Their large force was ready to meet Xixax's army at Aclaria.

"Xixax's army has already taken over many stronghold around Aclaria." Damien commented, "However, his men have already gone through days of endless fighting. Taylor, I'll want you to take the east path to execute a surprise attack on one of their supply depots."

"Got it little bro."

"Alex, I leave you in charge of the main camp. We've already traveled far enough. If we lose our main camp, it's over."

"Don't worry." Alex agreed, "I'll use these babies," Alex twirled her hookblades and smirked, "to keep the main camp safe."

"I'll take the west path and see if I can assist a village there."

"Are you sure you don't need help?" Taylor asked, "I won't back down if you need help."

"I'll be fine. I'm hoping the village is still safe."

* * *

After 2 weeks of traveling, Damien's army met Xixax's army who had already taken over Alcaria, "Alright!" Damien started, "We must take Alcaria from Xixax! Fight hard, but don't push past enemy lines! Wait for the signal to attack!" He turned to battlefield and sighed, "Let's go!"

Damien traveled west while Taylor moved east. Alex remained at the main camp and merely watched their army set up defensive positions around Alcaria.

Damien rode to the village and could see just over the hill that it was already burned to the ground. Damien slowed down as he entered the village and shook his head. He gripped his blade fiercely and slowly mounted his horse. His soldiers waited for his orders and stood behind him.

Damien sighed and said, "Check the perimeter." His soldiers nodded and spread out to secure their position. Damien walked around aimlessly in the village and thought about how this could happen to Camtou.

He continued looking around until he heard a cough followed by the shuffling of wooden boards. Damien looked towards the source of the noise and placed his hands on the hilt of his sword. He slowly walked forward and noticed a turned over wagon. However, underneath it, he noticed a pair of rather small feet.

Confused, he slowly lifted the wagon with his one hand still on his sword. His eyes widened when he saw that it was a little girl. He looked around as the girl looked up at him like a scared, abandoned puppy.

"Hey there little one." Damien knelt down, but the girl shuffled back, "No. Please don't be afraid. I'm here to help..."

"Y-You're Damien..." The girls mumbled, "The hero that killed Davison."

"Uh. Yeah." Damien got on both knees and smiled at the girl, "How old are you?"

"10..." She softly answered.

"10?" Damien repeated. His expression as he asked, "Are your parents...?" The girl slowly looked away and Damien sighed, "I see..."

"Are you going to be my new daddy?"

"Uh..." Damien scratched the back of his head and chuckled, "I'm of age to have a daughter, so I guess so." Damien held his hand out to the girl and smiled, "Come on. I'll take you back to some of my allies."

The girl slowly reached her hand out and took Damien's hand. Damien slowly picked up the girl and turned to his men, "We're pulling back to the main camp!" Damien ordered. The village is gone!"

"Watch out!" The girl yelled.

An archer appeared from the rubble and shot at Damien. He watched the arrow flying towards him and he couldn't do anything as he was holding the young girl. However, just before the arrow could hit him, it stopped and fell to the ground as if it hit some wall.

He turned to the young girl to see if it hit her, but it didn't. Her eyes were tightly shut just as his soldiers arrived. His own archers took out the lone archer and Damien sighed in relief. He fixed the girls hair who slowly opened her eyes.

"Are you okay?" The young girl asked.

"I'm fine. It just stopped in mid-air." Damien looked down at the arrow and nodded, "At least we're okay." Damien signaled his men to move back towards the main camp. His men nodded and pulled back. Damien followed behind them while asking the young girl, "So what's your name?"

"Lorelai..." She softly answered.

"Lorelai. That's actually pretty nice."

* * *

In the east, Taylor's army met with a large part of Xixax's force. Although they were outnumbered, Taylor's army was making ground and pushing the enemy back.

"Take out the enemy!" Taylor yelled, "Use all your might to destroy them!" Taylor rallied her troops while the enemy forces' morale was plummeting.

Taylor looked over to the west and shook her head, "I hope my brother is fine..."

* * *

Damien quickly arrived back to the main camp to see it nearly overrun by troops of Xixax. Damien ordered to his troops, "Move to assist!" He looked at the girl he was carrying and held her tight, "Just hold on and cover your head."

"Okay..." Lorelai buried her face into Damien's chest while he ran and dodged arrows from both sides. He noticed Alex fighting off a group of soldiers and noticed that she was fighting a losing battle.

Damien shifted Lorelai into his left arm and unsheathed his sword. He sprinted towards Alex and took out the group of soldiers behind her, "Alex..."

"Oh Damien!" She exclaimed, "I'm glad your here." She huffed and puffed continuously while placing her hookblades away, "I'm guessing the village was lost."

"Yeah but..." Damien looked at Lorelai who peaked out from Damien's chest and quickly dug her face back in, "She was the only survivor. Everyone else is dead."

"So she's all alone?"

"Not for long. When this battle is over, I want you and Taylor to take her back to Obrana."

"No!" Lorelai shouted, "I want to stay with daddy!"

"Haha." Alex laughed, "She wants to stay with daddy."

"Quiet." Damien ordered, "Well," Damien lightly patted her head and said, "I'm going to leave you with Alex here, okay?"

"Alex?" Lorelai questioned.

"She's my friend." Damien confirmed, "She'll take good care of you until this battle is over."

"Okay..." Damien handed Alex Lorelai who hung onto her tightly.

"Got her?"

"Yeah. She's like my niece." Alex poked her cheek and chuckled, "Go ahead and meet Taylor. I'm sure she's done in the east."

"Alright." Damien waved Lorelai off before advancing ahead.

* * *

Eventually, Damien drove back the enemy that charged the main camp and met up with Taylor's army. The two took out waves of soldiers before meeting up face to face. Or back to back.

"Hey there sis." He greeted.

"What's up little bro?" She responded.

"Fight?"

"Fight."

The two ran ahead and took out more soldiers while their own soldiers rode the wave of momentum and quickly overran Xixax's forces.

Cormac, who was the commander of the army scoffed and signaled his army to retreat. Once Damien noticed, he called off his attack. Damien stabbed his sword in the ground and nodded.

"We have seized victory and have taken back Aclaria!" Damien yelled, "Let out a victory cry!" Damien's men all did so and roared loudly.

Taylor wrapped her arm around her brother and lightly nudged his arm, "Way to lead us bro."

"I didn't do anything." Damien refuted, "I didn't even contribute all that much."

"Little bro," Taylor started, "I might've arrived to this thing late, but I learned that these soldiers look up to you. When you have energy and give them that boost in momentum, they're ready to fight tooth and nail for you."

"I guess I have that effect on our soldiers."

"Exactly. They're ready to die for you and they're ready to do what they can to help you win in battle."

"Ha..."

"Damien! Taylor!" They turned around to see Alex running up to them while carrying Lorelai, "I see that we drove them out of Aclaria."

"Yeah." Taylor eyed Lorelai and smiled, "And who is this cutie?"

"Her name is Lorelai." Damien answered, "She was the only survivor of the village I checked."

"Oh dear..."

"Lorelai," Damien turned to Lorelai and said, "this is my older sister, Taylor."

"Taylor?"

"Yes sweetie." Taylor confirmed.

"Your daddy's sister..."

"Daddy?" Taylor questioned, "Adopting her I see."

"What was I suppose to do?"

"You did the right thing. It's just a matter on who her mother will be." Taylor chuckled and said, "What about Alice?"

"Alice? She's still too young." Damien retorted, "If someone is gonna be her mother, I'd prefer it to be Julia or Xuan Shi."

"Already choosing?"

"What?" Damien shook his head and held his arms out, "Let's not talk about that. We have a war to assess." Alex handed Lorelai to Damien and looked around Aclaria, "We should get her back to Obrana."

"Allen is already on the way I think." Alex commented, "We still have plenty of soldiers now. You'll be fine if you head back to Obrana."

"Yeah little bro. Alex and I will settle down here. You make sure that girl gets to Obrana safe and sound."

"Alright." Damien whistled and his horse arrived next to him. He mounted it and saluted the girls before riding off.

* * *

After a week of traveling, Damien made it back to Obrana safely. Damien slowly rode in with Lorelai sleeping in his arms. He smiled at her and noticed Julia and Alice waiting for him. He waved at them and sighed.

"Hello my lord." Alice greeted, "Back so soon?"

"Had a little problem." Damien pointed at Lorelai sleeping in his arms and stopped his horse, "I was hoping to leave her here while we move back to Aclaria."

"So I'm guessing you captured it, right?" Julia asked inciting a nod from Damien, "We also received news that Glinen's army has pushed Xixax away from the south."

"And Lilie?"

"She's still working on the center." Alice answered, "But who is this?"

"Her name is Lorelai. She was the only survivor of a village ransacked by Xixax's men."

"So her parents...?" Julia slowly asked.

"Yeah." He looked down at her and caressed her hair slowly, "I decided to adopt her as my daughter. Just gotta lookfor a mother to be her female figure in life." Alice and Julia looked at one another then back to Damien, "Mei is in Camtou which isn't within these walls. I was hoping one of you would take that position."

"She can do it." Both of them respond.

"If the both of you can look after her then that's great." He softly tapped her and her eyes fluttered, "Wakey-wakey Lorelai."

"Daddy?" Alice and Julia stiffened up when she heard her call him "daddy".

"We're here in our real home." She turned to Alice and Julia before looking back at Damien, "Is something wrong?"

"You have two wives?"

"A-Ah..." Alice and Julia muttered.

"No. They're just my friends and advisers. They aren't my wives."

"Okay. So they're concubines?"

"Lorelai..." Damien stared at Lorelai who held a straight face, "No. They aren't."

"So they're just advisers?"

"That's correct."

She turned back to Julia and Alice before facing Damien one more time, "Can I meet them?"

"Sure thing. I have to leave anyway." Lorelai pulled on his garb and he pat her head, "Don't worry. I won't disappear or anything."

"We can take her to the next safe area if you'd like." Alice offered, "That's if she's willing."

"Lorelai," Damien started, "stay with them for now, okay? They'll take really good care of you." He stopped and said, "However, Julia will take care of you alone for now. Alice, I need you to move with me to our push west."

"Me?"

"Yes. We'll need to take our position soon on the border between Lord Tosho and Lord Xixax." Damien ushered Julia to take Lorelai from him and she did so, "We'll need to move as soon as possible."

"Alright. Just give me time to gather my bearings." Alice walked off leaving the other 3 alone.

Julia looked at Lorelai who hung onto her tightly, "I'm sure we can get handmaidens from the capitol to help take care of Lorelai if we request it from Lord Tosho."

"Hm." Damien thought it over and nodded, "Send a messenger to Lord Tosho for a request for some handmaidens. When I return, break the news to me."

"Very well." Julia bowed while Alice joined them again.

"Alright milady," Damien started, "let's get moving." And with that, Damien and Alice moved back to the frontlines of the war.


	13. Rising Darkness

Damien's army pushed Xixax's army away and positioned themselves on the border between Xixax's territory and Lord Tosho's territory. Damien took position at an area known as Tsomburg Gate. This gate separated the border from Tosho and one of Xixax's strongholds known as Tsomburg.

Damien sat in his tent with his eyes closed. He flashed back to the times he lost himself. During the Black Oracle Rebellion. The time he killed Davison. Finally, the time he drew his blade at Yan Hu.

"What's wrong?" Damien jerked up and saw another him sitting across from where he was, "What's so wrong about doing a little bad thing every now and then."

"It's not who I aim myself to become. People will come to fear me and I don't want that."

"Is that what you really want. Just over a year ago you wanted to kill yourself. You had the chance to let it happen when you were first brought here and yet here you are."

"I'm doing this for Camtou, for Mei... for everyone..."

"Is that really all though? There's something else. You're afraid of something and I know what it is."

"Huh?"

"You're afraid of losing those close to you. Losing your friends. Your family." Damien balled his fists fiercely while his copy continued, "You know that anyone who gets close to you succumbs to the dangers you bring upon them. Xuan Li succumb to the dangers of a powerful Xixax army. That could've been avoidable if you weren't there."

"No..."

"They didn't need those types of numbers. They called on you hoping to turn the battle around. However, this only caused Xixax to increase the numbers used to assault the Xuan. Numbers that even you couldn't make a difference about."

"No. You're wrong. Xixax planned that from the beginning!"

"Oh come on. Don't be a fool. You want to protect your friends right. Oh what am I saying. I said it earlier. You're afraid of losing them right?"

"Gah!" Damien grabbed his head and stood up, "Get out of my head..."

"Stop pretending to be a hero Damien. Let your true nature show itself. All you have to do is... **LET ME IN**..."

"Stop. Get out of my head!" Damien yelled at the top of his lungs while a fierce, dark aura shot out of him. The dark aura shot through his tent and into the air. Clouds of thunder and lightning colored the air while everyone in the camp stood shocked. The aura reached so far into the sky that people from Tsomburg could bear witness to the spectacle.

From that aura in the sky, what conspired from the aura was a dark, evil dragon looming in the sky. It circled around the camp and sent everyone into a feeling of despair.

"What's going on?!" Alice questioned, "What is that thing?!"

"A looming evil." Xuan Shi answered, "My lord..." Xuan Shi looked over to the tent and ran over to it, "My lord!" She yelled.

Xuan Shi's voiced echoed through Damien's head, but he couldn't break out of his tantrum. Damien continued grasping his head as the pain grew worse and worse.

"Gah!" Damien screamed once more just as Xuan Shi and Alice opened the tent to see Damien floating in the air with the dark aura shooting out of him. They stared at him in shock and fear.

"My lord!" Xuan Shi shouted once more.

Damien's eyes shot open just as the aura stopped spilling out. He dropped to the ground with a loud thud causing them to run over to him. Damien had passed out from the ordeal and the girls were left wondering what and why such a thing happened to him.

That night, Alice walked out of his tent to be met with Xuan Shi, Julia, and Taylor. She shook her head and said, "I have no clue why it happened."

"Is my brother stable?" Taylor asked, "Is he asleep?"

"He's asleep for now." Alice answered, "He's pretty much out cold..."

"Reports say that they could see a dark dragon looming over the camp miles away." Julia commented, "This is something beyond our own understanding."

"There is someone who might know something..." Xuan Shi interrupted, "There is a person north of Obrana who can read a person's aura. They can determine whether or not an evil presence is living within a person. I believe she can even extract said dark power."

"We need to head there now." Alice ordered, "We need our commander in order for our troops to have the momentum to fight."

"Xuan Shi," Julia began, "I want you to bring Alice with you when you take Damien to this individual. Taylor and I will remain here."

"Oh," Taylor added, "I also received an order that we need to dispatch troops in that area to take care of Black Oracle remnants."

"Remnants?" Alice questioned, "There's still more?"

"Yes." Taylor responded, "They've been pillaging villages for no reason and trying to gather supplies to capture our territory while we're dealing with Xixax."

"Your mother will be there to help you out." Julia said while looking at Julia, "You best move soon while Damien is still stable."

"My mother...?" Alice mumbled.

"It's best if we rest for now milady." Xuan Shi interrupted, "You can watch over Damien to make sure he doesn't lose it again."

"Right." Alice nodded.

* * *

Over that next week, they moved north past Obrana towards the far north. They were looking to get to the bottom of Damien's odd tantrum and to completely quell the Black Oracle.

"Who'd thought that these remnants still believed they could take us on." Damien started, "A bunch of idiots they are." Damien's eyes turned a dark crimson for a short second before turning back to normal.

"My lord," Xuan Shi began, "you must rest your mind."

"Why?"

"You don't look stable my lord." Alice answered, "You haven't been yourself recently."

"I don't feel any different." Alice and Xuan Shi looked at one another while Damien said, "We just need to focus on quelling these remnants. Who are we meeting here?"

"My mother." Alice answered, "She will assist us dealing with these remnants."

"I've never met your mother." Damien stated, "How come?"

"She's not usually to be seen during times like this, but due to the severity of the war, she has no choice."

"Her mother is very intelligent." Xuan Shi added, "Rumors say she can predict the future just by observing people and the nature around them."

"That's just a rumor." Alice chuckled, "I doubt she can do that."

"There's the camp." Damien pointed out.

In front of them, a makeshift camp could be seen just over the horizon. The camp was rather small and looked to only hold around 2,500 troops.

"We should make haste." Damien increased his pace with Alice and Xuan Shi doing the same. All the while Damien's heart started to pounding periodically, "Gah..." Damien grabbed his chest and this caught the attention of Alice. She didn't ask him and kept to herself.

* * *

After arriving, Alice pointed over to one of the tents, "My mother should be there."

"Alright, let's go."

The 3 made their way to the tent and once they entered, they noticed a very beautiful woman standing at the end of a long table. She turned around and smiled at the 3.

"Greetings mother." Alice bowed. Damien and Xuan Shi followed and bowed before her.

Alice's mother walked over to Alice and hugged, "It is great to see you again young one."

"Same to you mother."

She turned to the other two and took Damien's hand, "And this is the famous Damien." She lightly bowed and smiled at him, "My husband would go on and on about your battle prowess and your intelligence. Alice would do the same too. She would go on more than my husband."

"Mother..." Alice begrudgingly groaned.

"I'm sorry my dear daughter." She let go of Damien's hand and turned to Xuan Shi. She grabbed her cheek and held a look of remorse, "I am so sorry for the lost of your sister."

"It is okay." Xuan Shi refuted, "I am still angry yes, but I've made it my mission to support my lord and continue the Xuan Legacy."

"I see." Alice's mother pinched her cheeks and smiled warmly at her, "I'm glad that you're loyal to your lord Damien." She turned to Damien and tapped his shoulder, "I hope you take good care of her, my daughter, and yourself."

"Huh?"

"Nothing." She responded rather coldly, "Let's discuss our situation." Alice's mother stood at the table and bowed, "Before I begin, allow me introduce myself. Ahem. My name is Ceana Matet. As you might know, I am the wife of Tosho and the mother of Alice, Lilie, and Glinen."

"It is an honor to make your acquaintance." Both Damien and Xuan Shi responded.

"The honor is all mine." She bowed again and turned to the table in front of them, "Now that we have my name out of the way, let us discuss the Black Oracle remnants."

"They're stationed in the nearby village, correct?" Damien questioned.

"That's right." Ceana answered, "They have captured the village and may the gods forbid, captured all of the women and killed the men. The children have been forced to fight for them while the women are forced..." Ceana stopped while Alice and Xuan Shi looked away in disgust.

Ceana looked up and noticed Damien gripping the hilt of his blade fiercely along with his eyes glowing red. She sighed and pointed at the map on the table, "Right now, they're surrounding the village and hold a strong defensive position."

"The Black Oracle are all untrained peasants." Damien commented, "Just let me go in and I'll handle these infidels."

"That won't be very smart." Ceana retorted, "They might be untrained when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, they aren't in dirty tactics. They'll use the prisoners as shields in order to stop us from advancing with our whole army."

"We'll need to get those women and children away from the village in order to properly attack." Alice commented, "We have to find a way to lure the forces away from the village and attack when they're distracted."

"Do we know where those prisoners are being held?" Xuan Shi answered.

"As of right now, no." Ceana responded, "We haven't been able to perform any reconnaissance due to one of the enemy soldiers."

"Hm?"

"This soldier is unlike any I have ever seen. They wielded a two-handed axe, but he swung it around with ease using only one hand and took out an army of 1,000 on his own. It was like nothing I had ever seen before."

"A strong warrior?" Damien questioned. He scoffed and shook his head, "Just seems like the perfect distraction if you ask me."

"What do you mean?" Alice asked, "You're not thinking of facing this man alone are you?"

"Just about." Damien responded, "They'll expect someone like me to fight him alone in order to save the prisoners. So while I fight, I want a reconnaissance team to go out and figure out where they have heavy defense. That's where our prisoners will be."

"So you'll challenge this warrior and fight him while someone figures out where the prisoners are?" Xuan Shi questioned.

"That's correct." Damien nodded, "A man like this should be no match for me. I've taken on stronger and better. Only a thousand? Ha." Damien turned around and made his way out of the tent. The dark aura could be felt in that tent while he said, "I'll take care of that warrior. I'll see just how strong he is."

"Alice, my daughter," Ceana began, "there is something dark in him. Can we trust him in his current condition."

"We can mother." Alice responded firmly, "He does what is right and doesn't lose sight of himself."

"I hope you're right because I feel something dark rising in him and it's not going to be pretty when that darkness unleashes itself."

"But mother..."

"It's best if you two go with him right now." Ceana interrupted, "Just to make sure he doesn't do anything irrational."

Alice and Xuan Shi looked at one another before bowing to Ceana and leaving the tent to follow Damien.

* * *

Later that night, the 3 slept in the same tent, but Alice and Xuan Shi found it hard to sleep. Alice sat up and looked over at Damien. Xuan Shi turned over and did the same thing.

"Is my mother right Xuan Shi?" Alice questioned, "Is there something brewing inside Damien. Something dark? Darker than we anticipated?"

"It's starting to cross my mind." Xuan Shi agreed, "What he did towards Yan Hu. Yeah, I would've done something too, but he was so close to stabbing his neck."

"Damien has made some questionable decisions over time, but I've learned that each decision he makes has its purpose. I might not agree with them, but I trust Damien..."

"That trust goes a little farther than just you being his adviser or him protecting you. It's love isn't it?"

"I..."

"It's time to stop denying it milady. You love him, don't you?"

Alice took a deep breath and crawled over to him, "I can't deny it. I've fallen in love with this Suicider..."

"You're not the only one."

"Huh?"

"He's gained the hearts of many others. My sister did have sex with him and your sister is very infatuated with him. Let's not forget Master Julia either. They have a past in their previous lives where they had feelings for one another." Xuan Shi chuckled and sat up, "My lord seems to be a real womanizer."

"Wouldn't have to have sex with us in order to be considered a womanizer?"

"He had sex with my sister."

"But he's not constantly having sex." Alice caressed Damien's hair and smiled at him, "He wouldn't be the person to only think about sex. His mind is focused on the chaos that plagues this land."

"I agree, but milady." Xuan Shi paused for a second before saying, "You know there will be a time where he will have to conceive a child with me. Are you okay with that?"

"Xuan Shi, I understand that he must do so in order to continue your family's bloodline."

"Embarrassingly enough," Xuan Shi grew flustered while hugging her legs, "I'm looking forward to it."

"I guess there's another woman that's infatuated with our lord."

"Spending time with him during our war against Davison made me realize my feelings for him. He's quite the interesting man. Don't you think?"

"Definitely." Alice smiled warmly at him before shuffling back to her futton, "We'll need to remain loyal to him and each other. We can't lose sight of ourselves."

"Right."

* * *

That next morning, Damien sat atop his horse and gripped the hilt of his blade, "I'll gain their attention for a short time. The rest of you, roll around and figure out where the hostages are being held. Understand?"

"Yes my lord." Xuan Shi responded.

"I'll remain here at the main camp with my mother." Alice stated, "Be safe you two."

Damien charged ahead with only 500 troops while Xuan Shi circled around alone in order to not draw attention to herself.

Damien and his troops met with the Black Oracle Remnants and were easily taking them out. Damien took out group upon groups of soldiers while his troops made short work of those he didn't defeat.

"Ha!" Damien scoffed, "These stupid Black Oracles really think they have what it takes to take us on?!" It was then that Damien noticed something gleam in the sky before coming down on top of him, "Huh?!"

Damien narrowly dodged the item, but a large group of his soldiers were killed from the impact. Damien stood up and looked at what landed near him and gritted his teeth. It was a two-handed axe. Damien looked up to see an armor-clad man walking up to the axe and picking it up with ease.

"So you're the warrior causing trouble around here." Damien stepped forward as bodies of his soldiers fell from the sky, "You don't look so great to me."

"You're the man that killed our leader." The man growled, "Damien..."

"The one and only." Damien dragged his fingers across his sword and smirked at the warrior, "But the battlefield isn't meant to talking. It's meant for fighting!" Damien sprinted forward and swung at the warrior who blocked his attack.

"I'll make you pay for killing our leader!" The warriors shouted.

"Then show me you can."

* * *

In the nearby forest, Xuan Shi moved through the bushes and trees in order to peak into the village, "I have to figure out where those hostages are." Xuan Shi sighed and crouched next to a tree just barely out of the forest, "This would be better if it was Zhong Cai. Her Godly Sight would help a lot."

However, behind Xuan Shi, a group of Black Oracle soldiers crept up behind her and before she could notice, it was too late.

* * *

Damien kicked the man back and scoffed at him, "Are you really the one that's been causing our army trouble?" Damien sighed and muttered, "Maybe our own men are more incompetent than I thought."

"You think this is the extent of my power?" The warrior asked, "Do you really think I would put my full power out there when I can just break you down mentally?"

"Huh?"

"Let go of me!" Xuan Shi shouted while she was being dragged out to the open, "Let me go!"

"Xuan Shi!" Damien tried to run forward, but the soldiers pushed Xuan Shi to the man who snatched her, "Let her go!"

"Why would I do that?" The warrior kicked Xuan Shi to the ground and stepped on her, "Doesn't she want to continue her family legacy?"

"What?"

"Her sister is dead and now she needs to birth a rightful heir."

"You wouldn't dare." Damien growled, "If you do anything so help me I'll..."

"You'll what? Don't you know we have tons of other prisoners? You try something and we'll mess with them too."

"No!" Damien roared, "No! Stop!"

"You can't protect anyone fool!" The warrior taunted, "You've failed her sister and now you'll fail her! Not to mention Alice and Ceana."

"No!" Damien's heart beat loudly while his eyes proceeded to glow a dark, crimson red, "I can't lose her. I can't lose anyone else..."

"That's right." His dark persona added, "You _don't_ want to lose anyone. Just accept that and use me. You'll be able to save her and everyone around you."

"I..." Damien stuttered, "I don't wanna lose anyone!" Damien shouted as the dark aura shot out of him, "That just isn't going to happen." Damien demonically growled while shouting, "I will not allow you to harm anyone else!" The dark aura shot back down at while an explosion of dark purple smoke surrounded him.

Alice ran to the edge of their main camp and looked at was happening, "Not again..."

Ceana joined her daughter and shook her head while gripping her sword fiercely.

"Let! Her! Go!" Damien breathed heavily while the dark aura loomed over him. He looked up slowly and yelled, "Do not cross me!"

"My lord...?" Xuan Shi mumbled.

"I warned you!" Damien dashed forward and drove his blade straight through the warrior, "None of you will harm my friends! Anyone that does will disappear into oblivion!" Damien rose his blade into the air and yelled, "Rise!"

"My lord..." Xuan Shi looked up at Damien as his sword's flame increased to abnormal amounts along with the dark aura surrounding it, "No..."

Damien sliced in the air, shooting out multiple sonic waves towards the large mass of Black Oracle soldiers, wiping them out with ease. Damien manically laughed while he sprinted forward and killed Black Oracle soldiers.

Xuan Shi rose to her knees and mouthed, "My lord..."

"We have to stop this mother!" Alice tried to run forward, but her mother stopped her, "Mother?"

"It's too dangerous to move." She responded, "We must remain on standby."

"But..."

"I need some of you to get those hostages however." Ceana ordered, "Get them out of the way before he kills them too."

Damien took out another group of Black Oracle soldiers while others cowered in fear. Damien loomed over them and growled.

"I will not allow you to hurt anyone I care about. I will not allow any of you to do that at all. Do you hear me!" The sky darkened and storm clouds rushed in. Swift gusts caused everyone to shield their eyes from the flying leaves and dirt particles caused by the gusts of wind, "All of you can just disappear. Disappear forever!"

My lord!" Xuan Shi pleaded, "Stop this now!"

"Hahaha!" Damien maniacally laughed while a black circle covered the remaining Black Oracle soldiers who tried to flee, but couldn't due to an overwhelming dread they were feeling, "That's it! My power! My power is rising! This is my true power!"

"Damien!" Xuan Shi shouted while hugging Damien from behind.

"Ah..." Damien uttered before cackling loudly and a massive explosion disintegrated everything trapped in the dark circle.

"No!" Xuan Shi shouted, "Please my lord!" Damien fell silent causing Xuan Shi to slowly ask, "My...?" Damien turned around with dead eyes before falling on top of Xuan Shi, "My lord!" She shouted, "I need help!"

"Move aside Xuan Shi." Ceane ordered above her. She held her sword right above the stem of Damien's neck, "I must end this dark creature."

"No!" Xuan Shi shouted while using her body to shield Damien, "I won't allow you to do that milady!"

"Mother..." Alice joined with them and could only utter 'mother'.

"My lord is all I have left. I've lost my sister already. I don't want to lose my lord either!" Xuan Shi held Damien tightly while Ceana held a look of pity at her, "Don't..."

Out of nowhere, an arrow flew at lightning speed and knocked Ceana's sword out of her hand, "Huh?"

"I see that you still lack proper judgement Ceana." Everyone turned towards the direction of the arrow and saw a lightly-clad woman wielding a bow, "A lack of judgement for this man will lead to chaos in the future."

"Is that?" Alice questioned.

"Fong Xue..." Xuan Shi and Ceana answer.


	14. Damien's Darkness

Xuan Shi, Alice, and Ceana traveled with Fong Xue back to her shack while their troops fell back to Obrana with the hostages.Once they entered her shack, Fong Xue pointed over to a floor mat.

"Place him there. I will begin my process."

"Will you be able to see the source of this dark power?" Xuan Shi questioned.

"It's a stretch, but I might be able to." Fong Xue moved Damien's hair from his forehead and placed her hand on it, "That dark power I saw earlier is nothing out of the ordinary. I actually expected more..."

"More?" Alice asked, "How could he produce more power?"

"That power only affected a smaller area. If he had gone to the full extent of this power, he would've wiped out the entire area."

"What?" Xuan Shi looked up at Fong Xue who nodded at her, "But..."

"I will do my best to save him Xuan Shi." Fong Xue caressed his forehead and took a deep breath, "Ceana, I think it's best if you travel back to the capitol."

"I must remain here and protect my daughter."

"She can handle herself I'm sure, but for your own safety, you must head back to the capitol."

Ceana stared at Damien and sighed, "Very well then. Do what you can to rid that darkness from him. If he dies or succumbs to the darkness, it would cause our morale to plummet. We can't lose this man."

"I will do my best Ceana."

Ceana sighed and left the shack.

Fong Xue looked down at Damien and her hand proceeded to glow, "I will do my best to drain whatever darkness I can out of him."

"What will that do in the long run?" Xuan Shi asked.

"He won't necessarily be free of the darkness, but he'll be able to resist it a lot easier." She closed her eyes and added, "However, he will feel immense pain when I perform this. No matter what you two may see or hear; you two cannot interfere."

"Okay..." Xuan Shi stepped back near Alice and stared at Damien.

Fong Xue balled her fist and the dark aura started to drain out of Damien. However, Damien started to groan and moan from the pain of the dark power draining from him.

Xuan Shi turned away and tried to cover her ears while Damien continued to groan in pain, "Just..."

"Just stay back Xuan Shi." Alice ordered, "Just let her do what she can."

"Ah!" Damien yelled out, "Stop!"

"Damien," Fong Xue started, "Try not to resist my efforts. The more you resist, the more it'll take you over."

"Ah!" Damien shouted even louder while the amount of drained dark aura increased in size, "Stop it!"

"There's too much..." Fong Xue winced as she stood up and stopped the procedure, "There's just too much darkness in there for me to drain right away."

"What will we do about him then?"

"I drained enough so that he won't have another outburst like that. However, he will still have dark thoughts looming in his head. It's up to the both of you and whoever else to keep him in check."

"How so?" Alice questioned.

"Keep tabs on him. Someone will need to remain at his side 24/7." Fong Xue stood up and grabbed sighed, "I'll travel with you back to the frontline of this war, but I will not be able to remain at his side 24/7. That is up to you and whoever else."

"I'll remain at his side." Xuan Shi quickly responded.

"Xuan Shi..." Alice uttered.

"He is my lord. I have made it my duty to remain at his side already. If I must remain at his side throughout the day and night, then so be it. I care about my lord and I do not wish to see any harm come to him."

"I see." Alice took Xuan Shi's hand and bowed, "I put that trust into you then Xuan Shi. Please look after our lord."

"I will milady."

"It's best if you two rest." Fong Xue interrupted, "We'll move out at dawn." Fong Xue left leaving the 3 alone again.

* * *

That night, Xuan Shi rested Damien's head on her lap while caressing his head. She hummed a tone while Alice watched.

"That song..."

"It's a song my sister used to sing to me when I was younger." Xuan Shi stated, "Whenever I was scared or something, she would sing me this song until I fell asleep. However, I do not remember the words to it."

"Still, it sounds nice."

"My sister sounded like an angel when she sung it." Xuan Shi paused for a second and sighed, "It's hard to think about. The sacrifice my sister made just so that I could escape."

"She did it for you."

"I know." Xuan Shi looked down at Damien and added, "I nearly lost someone else I cared about to something dark."

"We'll get this darkness out of Damien. I know for sure we will."

"It was just his overall persona during his episodes." Xuan Shi shook her head and balled her fists tightly, "He was a completely different person. Almost like he wasn't he even there."

"We will help him beat this darkness in him. We just have to believe in ourselves to do so. Being pessimistic isn't going to help our current situation."

"As my lord once said, I'm just being realistic about our situation, but I understand milady..."

Alice paused to soak in what Xuan Shi just said but nodded, "Alright. Now get some rest Xuan Shi. We have a long way to go tomorrow."

"Right..."

* * *

Over the course of that week, Xuan Shi, Alice, Fong Xue, and Damien arrived back at Obrana where Julia, Lorelai, and Mei waited for him.

"Mei? Julia" Damien questioned, "What are you two doing at the castle?"

"We heard about happened earlier this week." Mei walked up to Damien and caressed his cheek, "I'm just glad you're still yourself."

Xuan Shi twitched while she stood in between the two, "So we meet again Mei."

"Yes." Mei responded while looking Xuan Shi up and down, "We do meet again Xuan Shi." Mei twitched as well before asking, "What are you to my lord if I may ask?"

"Your lord?" Xuan Shi refuted, "I'm sorry, but I don't think you have the right to call him that."

"Master Xuan Shi," Mei stepped up to Xuan Shi and said, "I have spent more personal time with _my_ lord longer than you. I have also taken care of him when he was on his deathbed. I appreciate you looking after him in my place, but I think it's my time to take that role back."

"I'm sorry milady." Xuan Shi stepped up to Mei and crossed her arms, "I appreciate you taking care of _my_ lord before me, but the battlefield is much too dangerous for someone as delicate as you. I'm positive _my_ lord wouldn't allow you to take the field of battle."

"Mmm..."

"Mmm..."

The two glared at one another while Damien watched on in confusion.

"What's going on?" Damien confusingly asked.

"It seems like a love triangle has formed my lord." Alice answered. She shifted her glance at the two girls and sighed, "These two girls. To think one of them is your age too my lord..."

"Damien," Fong Xue began, "when will you like to move back to the frontlines."

"I'd like an update on our current position." Damien answered, "What's our situation Julia?"

"We're currently at a stalemate." Julia answered, "Xixax has been bolstering his defenses Tsomburg Gate."

"Hm." Damien thought it over and shook his head, "It'll be suicide to charge in without a proper plan."

"What are you suggesting my lord?" Alice questioned.

"Alice, I'd like for you to remain here with Mei to take care of Lorelai."

"But my lord!" Mei shouted, "I need to accompany you."

"I'm sorry Mei, but Xuan Shi is right. I can't have you in the field of danger." Damien walked over to Mei and pat her head, "I wouldn't live with myself if you had gotten hurt under my discretion."

"But..."

Damien hugged Mei and said, "Just stay here and take care of Lorelai."

Mei eyes widened while Damien hugged her, but she turned to Xuan Shi and held a smug look before taking in his hug.

Xuan Shi frowned before scoffing and turning away from them.

"We'll move out in the morning." Damien broke his hug with Mei and walked over to Lorelai, "Hey there Lorelai. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She responded, "I'm just worried about daddy."

"I'm fine Lorelai." Damien held his arms out and Lorelai jumped into them. Damien turned to the others and quickly nodded, "Yeah. Tomorrow morning."

"Competition..." Xuan Shi and Mei mumbled in unison.

"I don't think a 10 year old girl is competition." Julia chuckled, "Geez, those two are lovestruck..."

* * *

Over that week, they arrived back at the camp outside of Tsomburg where Taylor was one of the first to greet them.

"You're back bro!" She waved while Alex, Allen, and his girlfriend joined them.

"We took care of those stupid Black Oracle's." Damien hopped off his horse and handed it to the stablemen. Julia, Xuan Shi, and Fong Xue did the same. Damien looked over to Allen and his girlfriend before asking, "So you decided to pick up a weapon?"

"Hey man," Allen chuckled, "she might seem pretty on the outside, but she's a fighter on the inside."

"Hey there again Damien." His girlfriend gleefully started, "We haven't really talked to each other since I came here."

"I usually don't have time to talk Amanda. I kinda have a lot on my plate at the moment." Damien looked at Julia and said, "Julia, come with me and we'll relay a message to our officers. We'll need to have a war council meeting."

"Right." Julia nodded before following Damien off.

"He's a changed a lot." Amanda commented, "Nothing like the Damien I remember back home."

"Yeah..." Allen solemnly agreed.

Taylor noticed the new face and asked, "Who's the the new face?"

"She is Fong Xue." Xuan Shi answered, "The woman I talked about before we left."

"Oh." Taylor walked over to her and shook her hand while bowing, "Thank you for trying to save my brother."

"I only did what was right." Fong Xue bowed back to Taylor and added, "If I was there any later then Ceana would've killed him."

"Ceana?" Taylor questioned, "Your mother?" Taylor looked at Alice who nodded at her, "Well, I'm glad you got there while you could or my brother would've died again."

"Unfortunately, I wasn't able to extract all of the darkness from him. He still has a great mass of it inside him." Fong Xue shook her head and added, "It seems to be building as well. I didn't expect him to have so much of that dark power dormant within him."

"What do we do then?" Taylor questioned, "I don't want my brother to succumb to this."

"All we can do is wait and hope he can resist the darkness." Fong Xue walked past them and said, "We should probably head to the tent and see what he wants us to do."

"Right."

* * *

Inside the tent, Damien stared at a map and said, "Their initial defense at Tsomburg Gate will be where their strongest will be. However, we know that his soldiers love to fight."

"What are you suggesting my lord?" Xuan Shi asked.

"We challenge his soldiers." Damien answered, "They won't be able to resist a challenge. So we challenge them and we fight for a short time. After a short time, we feign a retreat and lead them into an ambush."

"Who'll lead the decoy units?"

"Alex, Allen, I want you two to act as decoys while Julia, Xuan Shi, and Fong Xue lead the ambush parties. Taylor, Anna, the both of you will remain at the main camp and advance when we've taken out the most of their army." Everyone nodded and Damien bowed to everyone, "That ends our war council. We move at dawn."

* * *

Later that night, Damien sat alone again in his tent and thought back to his outburst in the north earlier that week. He shook his head and sighed. He looked at his hand and balled it into a fist.

"I can't lose myself like that again." He kept flashing back to the fear Xuan Shi held on her face and her screams as she called his name, "I can't allow myself to become that monster. I have to remain as myself."

"Damien?"

He quickly turned around to see Julia peaking her head into his tent, "Oh. Julia..."

"May I come in?"

"Yeah." Damien stood up and walked over to his bed, "I was just giving myself time to think."

"Oh..." Julia walked over to Damien just as he proceeded to sit down, "My lord..."

"Don't call me that please. You're my friend. Hearing you call me that makes it awkward."

"I'm only doing what is right of me. You are our commander and as so, I must call you that."

"Haha." Damien chuckled as he proceeded to lie down, "You're even adopting the way they speak. It makes you sound weird."

"Well, we have been living on Cemis for just over a year. I've just naturally picked up their intonation. Is that wrong?"

"No. It just sounds weird when I've heard you talk like people from our world for the last 8 or so years." Damien supported himself a little and looked at Julia as she sat on the bed, "Julia, I want you to tell me what has happened the last week or so."

"Do you not remember or do you confirmation about what happened?"

"I need confirmation. Did I really blow up like that?"

"I..." Julia closed her eyes and said, "I wasn't there in the north, but you blowup here was something I've never seen. Even all the stuff that I've seen here, it's nothing I thought I would ever see."

"If that was just a small piece, then what I did north of Obrana was something terrible." Damien turned over and added, "I can't get the screams of Xuan Shi out of my head. The fear in her voice is just hard to..." Damien quivered as the dark aura started to form around him.

Julia, calmly, placed her hand on Damien's shoulder, "Damien," She started warmly, "calm down please." She rubbed his shoulder before moving to his back, "Just think straight."

Damien sat up and turned to Julia, "Julia," Damien paused and asked, "can you stay with me tonight?"

"Huh?"

"Xuan Shi is suppose to remain near me 24/7, but I ordered her to remain outside of my tent. It'll be fine for you to just remain at my side for tonight."

Julia, although shocked, bowed and responded, "Of course my lord..."

The two stared at one another for a short moment before leaning in to kiss one another and falling on top of one another.

Xuan Shi stood outside and closed her eyes while listening in on Damien and Julia. She took a deep breath and looked up at the night sky.

"Dear sister, I know you're seeing this, but don't worry. I trust my lord." She held her chest and said, "Perhaps I was right. My lord seems to look like a womanizer." She smiled and glanced behind her at the tent, "I'm fine with that..."

* * *

That next morning, Xuan Shi stepped inside his tent and noticed the two were still asleep. She smiled at them and walked up to them.

"My lord. It is time to rise." However, the closer she got, her vision started to blur and she felt dizzy, "My... lord..." The image of Damien's dark person flashed in her head and her eyes widened. She stumbled back while holding a look of fear.

Damien woke up and looked at her, "Xuan Shi...?" He noticed her cowering near the entrance of the tent and leaped from the bed, "Xuan Shi!"

"Huh...?" Julia woke up just a few moments later and noticed what was happening.

"Xuan Shi!" Damien yelled, "What's going on?"

"M-My lord..." Is what she repeated before twitching and trembling in Damien's arm.

"What the hell?"

The flaps of Damien's tent flew open caused by Fong Xue running inside. She noticed Xuan Shi and lightly pushed Damien away, "Let me deal with this." Fong Xue hovered her hand over Xuan Shi and a light blue beam was slowly entered her, "Damien, you should probably get dressed. You and Master Julia."

"Right..." Damien stood up and looked over to Julia who was still in his bed, "Let's get dressed. We'll deal with Xuan Shi when we're not nearly naked."

"I'll take her to my tent." Fong Xue commented, "You may join us when you're both dressed."

Fong Xue helped Xuan Shi out of the tent while Julia joined Damien and used the sheets to cover herself. She looked at herself and sighed.

"What is it Julia?"

"I can't believe I actually had sex with you." Julia sat back on Damien's bed and rubbed her temples, "You're suppose to have sex with Xuan Shi when she becomes of age and here I am having sex with you."

"To be honest, I wanted to have sex with you back home, but you know...."

"What stopped you?"

"I guess my depressive thoughts. Every positive I tried to think, it would be shot down by something negative." Damien shook his head and walked over to his armor rack, "Let's go ahead and get ready. Remember, we move out soon."

"Right..."

* * *

A few minutes later, the latter joined Fong Xue in her tent. She laid Xuan Shi in her bed and had a towel over her forehead.

"She can't participate in the battle." Fong Xue stated, "Someone will have to take her place."

"Nobody can take her place." Damien commented. He shook his head and said, "Pull back."

"What?!" Julia questioned, "We can't pull back. We've already come this far."

"We need to pull back." Damien turned and frowned, "If we have problems within our own ranks, we can't be definite in our attack. We'll need to pull back to Aclaria and regroup."

"But..."

"That's an order Julia." Damien sternly stated, "Order the troops to pull back to Aclaria. Now."

"Y-Yes sir..."

And with that, Damien's forces pulled back from Tsomburg Gate and back to Aclaria. Thus began a long stalemate between Tosho's Forces and Xixax's Forces.


	15. A year...

A year has passed since the beginning of this war against Xixax and the two forces have remained at a stalemate. Both sides have exhausted their troops and resources in order to combat one another.

This endless cycle continues until Damien receives a letter from Lord Tosho that he must pull back from his current position in Aclaria and move to the close by nation of Usepla. A nation south of Aclaria.

Once his troops situated themselves, he noticed how empty the castle looked. Damien held a blank expression while standing on the castle wall. Taylor joined him and looked at him.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked.

"Why did he send us to an empty castle. It doesn't make sense."

"Maybe it's a facade or something. Empty Fortress strategy you know?"

"That would only work if we have a one way entrance along with tight corridors." Damien looked behind him at the openness of the castle and groaned, "If we're acting as a decoy, he could at least inform us."

"A decoy castle when we have this many soldiers?" Taylor laughed and pat her brother on his back, "I doubt it's that either."

"Then what does he expect us to do?"

"Master Damien," Zhong Cai called out from behind him, "it's a lot more than you think. We must just play the waiting game until Xixax's Forces make their move."

"How long would that take?"

"Patience Damien." Zhong Cai cooed, "Remember, there is no greater weapon than a prepared mind."

"What?"

"A well-thought strategy will always beat out brute strength. It's the basics of war."

"I hope these basics doesn't get us killed."

"Death will happen in war. Whether they're allies or enemies." Zhong Cai walked off the wall and left Damien alone with Taylor.

"Damien..."

"I don't trust her, but her overall appearance reminds me so much of Mei." Damien looked back out to the horizon and added, "Part of me doesn't trust her cunning demeanor, but part of me likes her just for her looks. Ah geez. What are those types of women?"

"I'm not sure. That might only have an affect on you."

"Just forget it for now. Let's prepare whatever defenses we can do."

* * *

3 weeks passed and there wasn't any action for Damien's Forces. He grew frustrated and slammed punched a nearby wall.

"Calm down Damien." Julia started, "You can't let your emotions get the best of you."

"I'm sorry. We're just stuck here while Xixax has more than likely took back Aclaria. It seems like he sees us as cannon-fodder. I'm also worried about Lorelai and Alice. I haven't seen them since I left Obrana last year."

"Would you like to make a trip there after our current battle?"

"Wait," Damien sniffed the air and smelled gunpowder, "I'm not the only one that can smell gunpowder right?"

"No." Julia answered, "I smell it too. It's in high concentration too."

The both of them quickly ran to the top of the castle wall, but were stopped when a cannon hit the wall. They looked out to the horizon to see Xixax's army being led by two female warriors.

"Siege!" Damien shouted.

"Get into our defensive positions!" Julia ordered.

"Who are they?" Damien questioned.

"Ailos and Anna." Julia answered, "Ailos is Xixax's wife and Anna is his daughter."

"Sending in his wife and kin into battle?"

"They're not to be trifled with. Especially Anna." Julia looked at the lady warrior with a helmet covering her entire face, "She fights blinded by her helmet since she can sense where you come from due to enhanced senses?"

"Does she use magic to increase those senses?"

"No. She was trained at an early age to use her other senses that were vision. She can know where you'll attack from before you even land a hit."

"That's a problem."

"That doesn't even go into what Ailos can do. She's a cunning seductress. She can lure men in with her looks and lead them straight into an ambush or trap."

"I see..."

"However, they're not fighting to their advantages. Using siege weapons the way they are means they want to absolutely destroy this castle and anyone in it."

"Leave nothing behind. Scorched Earth." Damien gripped the hilt of his blade and shook his head, "We'll need to hold our ground. We can't let them know that this castle is empty. If they do, they'll throw everything they have at us."

"Right."

Anna looked over to her mother and nodded before riding her horse at lightning speeds towards the castle. She ran over Damien's soldiers and stopped in front of the castle just below where Damien and Julia stood.

"I challenge you Damien!" She shouted, "Face me now!"

"She's challenging me."

"What will you do Damien?"

"I'll fight her."

"But..."

"If she wants a fight, I'll give her one." Damien hopped off the wall and readied his weapon.

Anna didn't look his way and quickly grabbed her sword and sliced it multiple times in the air. Just before Damien made it to her, he was slice from all angles out of nowhere.

Damien winced and landed far from Anna. The cuts weren't outrageously deep, but they were deep enough to bleed and burn. Like someone put lemon juice in a paper cut. Damien growled stood his ground.

"You're a fool to stay with an aging man." Anna hopped off her horse and readied her weapon, "If you were with us, this war would be over a lot faster."

"You're more of a fool than me." Damien refuted, "If you think I'll just turn my back on the people who's trust I earned, then that helmet must be cutting off circulation to your brain."

"You talk a lot for a Suicider." Anna dashed forward and quickly sliced her blade twice at Damien, who narrowly blocked the attacks, "It's a shame really. Such talent wasted on a Suicider."

"Talk isn't for the battlefield." Damien slashed the air 3 times, shooting out sonicwaves of fire towards Anna who dodged the first 2 and sliced through the last one.

"So predictable. I find it hard that you were the one that defeated Suibhnee." The two met in deadlock and Damien glared at her, "You've been nothing but lucky fighting. You're praised as being a powerful warrior..." Anna pushed Damien back and sliced through his chest armor twice, "But you're nothing but lucky! You're a sorry excuse for a warrior and you'll only fail everyone you come across."

"What did you say!" Damien's eyes grew a dark crimson red as the dark aura surrounded him, "How dare you insult me!"

"Damien!" From behind them, Julia came riding in on a horse and attempted to attack Anna, but was blocked. She rode back next to Damien and said, "Resist it Damien. Don't let it take you over."

"Huh?"

"The dark power. Resist it." She hopped off her horse and stood firm with Damien, "Remember why you're fighting and who you're fighting for."

"I..."

"We'll fight this woman together." Julia ordered, "We'll push their forces back and win this battle!"

"R-Right. Right!" Damien shouted, "I won't let you trigger me. I'll show you I'm more than just talent. I can fight just as well as anyone out there!"

"Show me then." Anna encouraged, "Show me the strength that defeated Suibhnee."

Fong Xue watched from the wall with Allen and Amanda. She smirked and nodded.

"Nice." Fong Xue turned to the other two and said, "I found something, or someone, who can stop Damien before he goes crazy. Or at least I hope."

"What do we do if he loses it again?" Allen questioned, "From what I heard, he has power beyond everyone here."

"I'll handle it. When he does loses himself in the dark power, order the troops to retreat back into the castle."

"Allen," Amanda started, "I'm worried."

"Why?"

"Even if Julia can maybe stop him from blowing up, she'll still be there at the helm of it, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Master Julia and I will handle it from there." Fong Xue interrupted, "All I need from the both of you and Master Taylor is to pull our troops back inside.

Anna knocked both Damien and Julia back and scoffed at them, "Did you really think you two had a chance against me?" She walked up to them slowly and twirled her blade, "You were foolish to think the two of you could stand a chance against me."

Julia tried to attack Anna one last time, but Anna deflected her staff from her hands and was knocked back onto the ground. Anna walked over to Julia and held her face up with the point of her curved sword.

"Surrender and she won't be killed.

"We have to help them!" Amanda yelled, "She'll kill them."

"Pull the troops back." Fong Xue ordered, "I have some work to do." Fong Xue ran off leaving Allen and Amanda on the castle wall.

"She said pull our troops back inside..." Allen muttered. He gritted his teeth before shouting, "Fall back inside the castle!"

Anna scoffed and said, "Even your own troops are abandoning the two of you." Anna shook her head and grabbed Julia by the collar of her garb.

"Hands off!" Damien shouted as the dark aura surrounded him.

"Do you think that dark power scares me?" Anna asked, "To me, that dark power is nothing more than a toddler throwing a tantrum. I've dealt with worse throughout my time here on Cemis and you're not even worth my time. You're not a warrior. You're just a glorified bodyguard who can't even do his job correctly." Anna brought her her blade close to Julia's neck and slowly started to slice.

"You..." Damien eyes turned into a bright, demonic red and looked more sinister, "Keep your dirty blade off her!" Damien dashed forward so quickly that Anna couldn't read his movements.

Damien grabbed her by her throat and slammed her against the wall of the castle, "Don't cross me!" Damien slowly started to levitate with Anna still in his grasp, "I'll make sure this is the last battle you'll ever have!"

"Damien!" Julia shouted, "Stop this now!"

Damien winded back and threw Anna at the ground with tremendous force. However, Anna was able to lighten her fall by yelling, "Aura of Protection!"

Ailos watched on from a far and only smirked at the situation, "So that's all then?" She leaned back and looked off the hills in the distance, "So you planned this all along."

On the hills, Lilie, accompanied by Zhong Xue, rode with 100,000 troops and were storming in on their position.

"Alright then Lord Tosho." She turned around and ordered, "Fall back!"

Her soldiers quickly reacted and began their retreat.

"No!" Damien shouted, "None of you are leaving. All of you will perish before me!" Damien hands formed a massive shadow ball before he shot it at the ground, taking out 2,500 troops alone, "You will not escape from me!"

Julia looked up while she watched Damien firing more shadow balls at the retreating Xixax army. Lilie did the same and gritted her teeth when she saw Damien just over the horizon.

Fong Xue stood on top of the castle wall and held her bow. She drew it back and took a deep breath before firing at Damien. Damien stiffened up before he started falling towards the ground.

Julia sprinted forward, but was too late as Damien, who slammed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust and dirt.

Anna slowly rose up and winced a slightly just as Lilie's Forces arrived. Xixax's army were already well on their way back to their territory while Lilie's Forces surrounded Anna who's helmet broke and revealed her face.

"Now you not to anger Damien." Lilie growled.

"Go ahead, kill me." Anna sat with legs-crossed and held her held low, "I know when I'm beaten."

"No..." Julia commented while holding Damien in her arms, "We're taking her prisoner."

"Hmph..." Anna scoffed while Lilie nodded to some of her soldiers to tie her up.

Lilie rode over to Julia and looked at Damien, "Is he...?"

"He's out cold again. I never thought I'd see his dark power first hand, but now I have..."

"My father has ordered him to remain at Obrana. My forces are pulling out from the south and taking position north."

"I think that's for the best."

Lilie hopped off her horse and knelt next to Julia, "Our young hero..." She shook her head and looked over to Anna, "You were foolish to trigger him that way and now you're our prisoner. Take her away."

"Damien..."

"Pull your troops out of here now Julia. My forces will handle it."

"Milady," Zhong Xue interrupted, "where is my daughter?"

"She's also in the castle." Julia answered.

"I see. Well, if it's not too much of a problem, may she remain with us?"

"That shouldn't be an issue." Julia responded, "I'm only worried about Damien."

"He'll need some time from the battlefield to look after himself and to do some governing." Lilie stated, "He's been away from Obrana for quite some time and my sister isn't exactly the best at governing."

"We'll head out as soon as possible."

* * *

Later that week, Damien still has yet to have woken up from his slumber. Everyone stood near his bed while Damien laid unconscious.

"Daddy..." Lorelai softly whimpered, "Why won't you wake up?"

"Our son having a dark power living in him." Damien's mother pointed out, "Who would've thought."

"My lord..." Xuan Shi and Mei muttered in unison.

"Fong Xue," Alice began, "do you know why he won't wake up?"

"My arrow was only to knock him out for a few minutes, but I guess those shadow balls he shot out along with his wounds caused his body to shut itself down to recover. There's no telling when he'll awaken."

"I thought I would be able to stop him like I did earlier, but I guess Anna hit a soft spot for him." Julia knelt next to Damien and grasped his hand, "I guess we're losing faster than we might think."

"He'll just need to remain away from the battlefield for the time being." Fong Xue commented, "It's best if we just remain here in Obrana and keep him away from the war."

"Right..."


	16. The Fall Of The Matet Family (The Rise Of Xixax Arc Finale)

After 2 years of endless fighting with neither side budging, Lord Tosho and Xixax agree to a peace treaty to bring the times back to where they were before. A time of peace was nigh and the land was celebrating.

However, Damien seemed skeptical at the sudden peace treaty. On his mind, he still felt that someone within their own ranks wished to seek the throne.

After studying the actions each of their allies, Damien has deduced that Glinen seems to act slyly about his feelings towards his father. He traversed around the marketplace and thought about Glinen and his actions.

"My lord." Xuan Shi called out behind him, "It's too dangerous for you to be on your own like that."

"Ah. Xuan Shi." Damien glanced at Xuan Shi who joined up with him, "I'm sorry. This peace treaty they've signed just doesn't sit well with me."

"But isn't a moments peace good?" Xuan Shi questioned, "We've lost a lot of good soldiers and even civilians have lost their lives during these wars."

"I guess you're right." Damien looked around at the bustling marketplace in Obrana and smiled, "Yeah. Seeing the lively activities of the people does put a smile on my face.

"Yes." Xuan Shi looked around and smiled with Damien, "Our people here have bustled underneath our rule. It's all thanks to you my lord."

"Are you referring to the both of us as 'lord' Xuan Shi?"

"M-My lord!" Xuan Shi quickly bowed and blushed heavily, "My apologies."

"Nonsense." Damien held Xuan Shi up and smiled warmly at her, "I mean, there will be a time where I'll help you continue your family lineage."

"You know my lord," Xuan Shi started, "I'm 19 now."

"Wait what?"

"Both myself and milady are 19 now." Xuan Shi stepped a little closer to Damien and whispered, "If you wanted to, I believe that you could help now."

Damien took a moment to look at her and asked, "Did you ask my sister or Lilie on how to advance on a man?"

"How'd you know?"

"Because Lilie did the same thing and I know how my sister thinks I want a girl to advance on me." Damien walked ahead of her and added, "But I'm not completely against it. Just give me some time."

"Right my lord."

Damien and Xuan Shi continued walking together through the marketplace and were enjoying their time. Eating the food and looking at some of the produce from the people.

"My lord." Xuan Shi started, "The food here is quite good, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Eating food that aren't prepared by the in-castle chefs feels pretty good. Reminds me of my first 2 weeks living in Camtou."

"I still think our castle food is good too." Xuan Shi chuckled.

"Well yeah, but it's something about the food here that seems more my style."

"I guess the high life isn't for you my lord?"

"Definitely not, but I can get used to it."

"My lord!" A messenger ran through the crowd of people and delivered a letter to Damien, "A letter from Lord Tosho."

"Hm?" Damien opened the letter and read it over.

"What does it say my lord?"

"We need everyone in my office now."

* * *

A few moments later, Damien paced for a minute before asking, "Why do we have to defend a castle not worth anything?" Damien took a seat at his desk and sighed, "We barely have enough troops to defend Obrana. What makes them think that we can defend Hi-gwan?"

"We don't have a choice in the matter my lord." Alice replied, "It's a order directly from my father."

Damien leaned on his hands and shook his head, "This doesn't seem right. All remnants of the Black Oracle is dead and that castle is too deep in our own territory for it to Xixax. Who could this 'mysterious army' be?"

"Who will you send?" Julia asked.

"Allen, Alex, I want you two to take 5,000 troops and move to Hi-gwan in the morning."

"Just the two of us?"

"We don't need to send everyone. I'm sure the both of you should make a big difference for whoever is defending Hi-gwan."

"Alright."

Damien turned to the others and said, "The rest of you will remain here. However, Taylor, I would like for you to keep 1,000 troops on reserve in case they require reinforcements."

"I can do that."

"Good. You're all dismissed."

* * *

2 weeks later, Allen and Alex arrived at Hi-gwan where they could both see that a massive storm was making way for the castle.

"That's a big storm." Allen commented, "That'll make fighting a little hard."

"It will, but we have to fight through it." Alex refuted, "We don't know anything about this army and we'll be fighting hard against an enemy we don't even know."

"We'll just need to focus on subduing them."

After some time, they arrived at the castle and they stood around while shaking their heads as the unknown army surrounded the castle on 2 fronts.

Lord Tosho joined them and said, "I have no idea where this army appeared. All remnants of the Black Oracle have been killed. There isn't any other way an army could attack us from this deep."

"We'll do whatever we can to drive them back." Alex reassured Lord Tosho and twirled her blades, "Ha. I'll make these people regret attacking us."

"Don't get overzealous Alex." Lord Tosho interrupted, "You two will take position in front of the castle with Binen."

"Binen?" The two questioned.

"Master Allen! Master Alex!" Binen shouted from behind them, "It has been too long."

"Oh. Master Binen." Allen and Alex bowed while Allen said, "It has been quite some time. I believe the last time we've seen each other was during the war against Davison."

"That's right. Please, tell me that Master Damien is fine."

"He's stable. No massive outbursts since Uspela."

"That is good." Binen sighed in relief and looked towards the wall of the castle, "This place rests near a river and it looks like a massive storm is on the way."

"That's right." Lord Tosho confirmed, "I've already sent my son to reinforce the floodgates and to defend it. All we have to do is hold the enemy back."

"Damien has troops in reserve led by his sister." Alex commented, "So if we need assistance, we can send a messenger back to Obrana so that he can send the reserves.

"They're on the move!" A soldier called out.

"I guess it's time for us to make our move." Allen stated, "Let's get moving!"

"Right!"

* * *

Meanwhile in Obrana, Damien could see the storm clouds looming in the distance along with a southeastern wind. He looked at the Matet Family Flag blowing with the gusts. He closed his eyes and shook his head. He was met with Xuan Shi who held a worried look.

"They won't win that battle." Damien commented, "Tell Taylor to stay put when they request reinforcements."

Slightly shocked, she solemnly responded saying, "Yes my lord..." Xuan Shi bowed and went off.

* * *

Moments later, Taylor stood with Xuan Shi who had just told her what Damien ordered her to do.

"Master Taylor?"

"I still have to go..."

"There won't be a point Master Taylor." Xuan Shi leaned on the wall near Taylor and stared at the ground, "The rainstorm over the castle will cause the river to flood. No matter how stable that floodgate is."

"But his friends..."

"I trust him in his decision."

"Are you sure that's not blind loyalty?" Taylor questioned, "I know that you love and care for my brother, but are you sure you're not blinded by loyalty."

"No." Xuan Shi responded, "The region Hi-gwan is in makes it hard to defend during a rainstorm. If Lord Tosho knows this, he will do his best to not expend his troops and retreat until the weather has cleared."

"Do you think Lord Tosho will know?"

"More than likely."

"The east is being led by Ceana at the moment while Lord Tosho remains at the capitol and handles inland affairs."

"Is something wrong with that?"

"It's just that she should only be out if a war is going on. However, since we signed this peace treaty with Xixax, shouldn't she taking it easy back in the capitol and handling affairs?"

"I'm not sure." Xuan Shi sighed and said, "Things just haven't been right these last 2 years. So much has changed. So many lives lost. Master Julia estimated that over 2.5 million people have died from these wars. She didn't even include the deaths from the Black Oracle Rebellion."

"I didn't know how bad this was going to be. The more I look at it, the more it's hard to believe. Not to mention that my brother fought in the Black Oracle Rebellion. That's where his career as a soldier and eventually a commander began."

"Your brother is an interesting man Master Taylor."

"Why do you say that?"

"He seems to always know what to do and say. No matter what the situation calls for, he always stays level-headed and continues to lead his soldiers into battle." Xuan Shi blushed and smiled warmly, "Not to mention stealing the hearts of many ladies on Cemis."

"I never knew my brother as charmer. He was always shy on Earth and never really talked to anyone. Kinda shocking to know that so many woman has fallen head over heels for my brother and 2 of them have gotten some alone time with him."

"It's been so long for him since then however. I was thinking that he would become a womanizer, but I guess not."

"My brother is focused on this war. So I doubt having sex is something that's constantly on his mind."

"That's another thing." Xuan Shi added, "He is a man of honor and courage. His righteousness is something that is so respected among our own soldiers that it makes him just that more enticing."

"Xuan Shi," Taylor began, "when you two do conceive your child, what will you name it?"

"Huh?"

"Have you not thought about it?"

"I've given it some thought." Xuan Shi titled her head back and said, "If it's a girl, I would like to name her Xuan LingQi."

"Xuan LingChi?"

"Technically. The Qi in the name is pronounced at Chi. So her name would be Xuan LingQi."

"Any reason for that name?"

"No reason. I just think it's nice and that it rolls off the tongue." Xuan Shi stepped forward and looked towards the sky, "But I hope my eventual kid doesn't have to live through this chaos."

* * *

At Hi-gwan, Allen, Alex, and Binen were easily pushing back the enemy from the castle. A little too easily, but nobody took a moment to think about it. Everyone except Lord Tosho.

"Fall back within the castle!" Lord Tosho ordered from the castle.

"Fall back?" Allen questioned, "But we have them on the ropes."

"No use figuring it out." Binen commented, "Pull back into the castle!"

Binen and Alex made their back into the castle, but Allen remained outside staring at the enemy forces who haven't started to pursue them.

"Why are they resisting?" Allen scoffed and proceeded to move back within the castle.

Lord Tosho continued staring at the enemy forces and crossed his arms, "Who is leading this army and why won't they attack?"

"My lord," Binen started, "these enemy soldiers act odd. They don't attack when they can. In fact, they don't attack at all."

"It's weird." Alex added, "What kinda army won't attack when they have the numerical advantage?"

"It's the rainstorm." Lord Tosho answered, "They're waiting for it to flood before attacking the floodgates."

"The river is already overflowing as is." Allen pointed out, "They're waiting for the right moment. I think it's best if we call for reinforcements."

"That'll take too long. The river will already be overflown by then. We'll just have to..." Lord Tosho looked to the east and noticed a rush of water storm from the river, "What?!"

The water rushed down the river and overflowed into the castle. The water started to slowly fill the castle with water at tremendous speeds.

"Get on the wall!" Lord Tosho ordered, "Get to higher grounds! You'll drown if you remain here!"

"What happened to Master Glinen and the floodgate?" Binen wondered, "They must've sent most of their troops to his position."

"Look over there!" Alex pointed out as the water rose, "They have boats!"

"They're making..." Lord Tosho paused and frowned, "Bridge of Boats. They're making a bridge out of boats!" Once the boats were in place, a large force stormed the bridge towards the castle.

"They're attacking!" Allen shouted.

Lord Tosho growled and leaped into the air. He slammed his sword into the ground and slice in front of him twice. He took out a large group of enemy soldiers and stood back.

"We have to retreat from Hi-gwan." Lord Tosho orderded, "We need to head north towards Obrana. I doubt they'll follow us there."

"How are we getting there in these conditions?" Alex questioned, "We're surrounded by water."

"We have to fight our way north. It's the only way."

"I'll stay back my lord." Binen said, "I'll cover your retreat."

"But Binen..." Lord Tosho started, but Binen nodded to him, "I see. I'm sorry Binen."

"Nonsense. It has been an honor to serve under you my lord. I'm sure my son will be able to fill the void Ieave."

Lord Tosho nodded and ran off with Allen and Alex following behind him.

They traveled north while fighting off the enemy army, but they ran into an ambush and were surrounded on all sides.

"Gah..." Allen growled, "We're surrounded..."

"These guys never let up." Alex tripped two soldiers and sliced them in half, "There's no way we can get out of this..."

"Fight on." Lord Tosho ordered, "We must give it our all in order to survive."

"But..."

"Father!" Everyone turned towards Glinen riding towards them on his horse and helped open a path for them, "I wasn't able to stop them from destroying the floodgates, but I can help you 3 retreat."

"Very well my son." Lord Tosho bowed and nodded to the other 2 who were hesitant to leave Glinen behind. Eventually, they bowed to Glinen and joined Tosho in his retreat.

"My lord..." A soldier ran up to Lord Tosho after they took a moment to rest, "Lord Binen. He has... he has been killed."

"Binen..." Allen muttered.

"We've lost a great man today." Lord Tosho growled, "We can't lose anymore allies. We need to be on our guard for anything else." Just as Lord Tosho said this, an arrow came flying towards him and it stuck him in his chest, "Gah!"

"Lord Tosho!" Allen yelled.

"I am fine." Lord Tosho ripped the arrow out and threw it to the ground, "We need to keep moving."

"But your wound..."

"It's only small flesh wound. We can't take a break in the middle of battle." Lord Tosho trudged further while Allen and Alex looked at one another.

* * *

In Obrana, Damien moved through the castle halls and eventually crossed both Alice and Xuan Shi, "Hello there miladies. May I ask why you're lingering in the halls?"

"We were just talking." Alice answered, "Just thinking about who could be attacking Hi-gwan."

"It's nothing we should be worried about though milady." Xuan Shi refuted, "Your father, Allen, and Alex are great warriors. There's no way they would succumb to their attack."

"Not unless a certain someone does something about it." Damien commented as he walked by them.

"My lord...?" Alice muttered.

Tosho, Allen, and Alex stood surrounded by the enemy troops and frowned. Not for their situation, but for who caused the situation

Glinen sat on his horse at the head of the troops. He pointed at them and his troops closed in.

"So Damien was right." Tosho growled.

* * *

Weeks earlier, Lord Tosho sat at his throne as a messenger knelt in front of him holding a letter.

"A letter from Damien?" Lord Tosho questioned.

"Yes my lord. He says that it is very urgent."

Lord Tosho opened the letter and read it over. Lord Tosho scoffed and leaned on his arm, "So you think my son will betray me soon. Hmph. We'll see if you're right."

* * *

And now, he was surrendered by the enemy army that is being led by his son, "He knew that you would be the one to betray us."

"But you are finished father." Glinen retorted, "Claiming your head now would mean so much more than this useless castle."

"Why?!" Alex shouted, "Why would you do this?!"

"Why?" Glinen repeated, "Why is a good question indeed. Not something I need to reveal to all of you." Glinen nodded while an arrow was shot from mountains. 3 arrows pierced Tosho in his abdomen, inciting a rough groan from him.

"No!" Allen and Alex shout.

"Gah." Tosho quickly ripped the arrows out and threw it to the ground, "Fool..."

"Claim their heads." Glinen shot a glance at Alex and smirked, "But have fun with her if you'd like."

"Gross..." Alex gripped her blades tightly and was about to charge in, but Lord Tosho stopped her, "Lord Tosho?"

"I'm sorry." He stepped forward and blocked the 2 from stepping any further.

"W-Wait!" Alex yelled, "What are you doing my lord?!"

Tosho didn't look back and simple said, "I have said my goodbyes. Tell my dear daughter and wife that I am sorry."

"What?" Alex questioned.

"Yes my lord." Allen responded.

"Take good care of them."

"Yes my lord."

"Lord Tosho, wait!" Alex shouted.

"Alex, I want you to help Alice become a strong woman." Tosho prepared his weapon and said, "Go now! Brave warriors from Earth!"

Allen ran off while taking out a group of soldiers blocking their path. Alex, although hesitant, joined Allen in their retreat while Tosho remained behind. Glinen scoffed and ordered his men to attack his father.

Tosho took out the first wave, but was stabbed immediately after the first initial wave. Soldiers stabbed through him all around his body and he groaned in pain before swinging his sword around, killing the soldiers. He stomped his foot in the ground and glared forward.

Glinen took one look at his father and held his hand up, "Enough." He ordered, "His soul has passed on." Glinen scoffed and said, "Hmph. To have a face so tranquil even in the face of defeat and death." He hopped off his horse and walked up to his father and shook his head, "Your legacy will go down in the history books. However, your time to step down should've been long ago." Glinen lightly pushed his father with one finger causing his father's deceased body to fall lifelessly onto the ground.

Glinen looked to the sky just as the rainstorm passed, "I will take this land as my own. I do not care about my sisters. I will fight and take this land for myself and only myself. This land is mine."

* * *

A week had passed before Allen and Alex arrived back to Obrana to deliver the bad news. She sprinted to the entrance of Obrana's castle. She was accompanied by Xuan Shi and Julia with Damien lagging behind. The 3 girls eventually met up with Allen and Alex who were there to deliver the news.

"Brave warriors." She started, "What happened to my father?"

Allen sighed and looked at the two who nodded at him. Allen walked up and delivered a fist-to-palm salute before saying, "Your father wanted us to tell you that he was sorry..."

Alice's face shifted to that of grief as she fell to her knees and wept, "No... my father..."

"Milady!" A soldier yelled.

"Please." Julia stopped, "Now is not the time."

"You don't understand." The soldier pleaded, "Lady Mia, Lady Zhong Cai, and their forces have betrayed us. They have assassinated Lady Ceana and sided with Lady Lilie..."

"M-My mother...?" Alice wept more and buried her face into hands, "Not my mother too..."

Damien finally caught up with them and grimly stated, "I guess someone was right about something being off." Damien crossed his arms and shook his head, "But Lilie too. Hmph." Damien scoffed and glanced at everyone, "Looks like they thought it was time to show their true colors."

Everyone except Alice avoided Damien's gaze. Alice stared straight into Damien's eyes and teared up. She hugged him and Damien softly embraced her. She wept into his shoulder and Damien closed his eyes.

"Let milady and I be alone for a moment." Damien ordered. They slowly nodded and walked away, "But Julia," Damien stopped Julia and looked up at her, "I want to see you in my office later tonight."

"Y-Yes sir..." She acknowledged before walking off.

After embracing one another just a bit longer, Alice slowly pulled away and asked, "What do we do now?" She wept a little more before saying, "My father is dead and my siblings are looking to start a war bigger than the one with Xixax. I'm scared..."

"Don't worry milady." Damien soothed her and said, "My blade belongs to you and only you. We might be small in force, but that doesn't mean we can't gain some ground." Damien helped Alice up to her feet and held her, "We need time to gather our forces together. As much as your brother wants to take you out, he'll have to worry about Lilie and Xixax before coming to us."

"Damien..."

"Quiet now." Damien interrupted, "Be strong. You're the leader of us now."

"Me?"

"Of course. You're the rightful heir. You're a Matet. The proper next in line." Alice remained silent and Damien held her face up, "Remember, we're here for you. I'm here for you." Damien backed up, knelt in front of her, and slowly unsheathed his sword, "My blade is for you and only for you."

"Damien..." Alice shockingly stated. Eventually, she nodded and grabbed his hand, "Thank you Damien." Alice eventually hugged Damien again, this time more warmly, "Thank you for staying with me."

"We've been through this since this all started. It would make me pretty scummy if I ran off to one of your other siblings." Damien tried to pull away, but Alice wasn't letting him, "Milady?"

"Let me have this Damien..."

"Alright milady..."

"Alice..."

"Huh?"

"A-lice." Alice alliterated, "I told you to call me 'Alice' when we're alone."

"Alright."

* * *

That night, Julia knocked on Damien's office door and opened it, "Damien?"

"Julia," Damien started, "we need to separate our army to deal with the impeding threats."

"Okay. Would you like me to assign certain people to defend areas?"

"Yes. I want Alex and Fong Xue to be head of any southern attacks. Allen and Taylor will remain in Obrana to defend it while the rest of us will move back west to start and alliance with Xixax."

"An alliance?" Julia paused for a second and asked, "How will Xuan Shi react? You know she holds hatred for Xixax."

"I'll deal with Xuan Shi. I just need you to figure out where our troops would be better off."

"We have only 45,000 troops." Julia started, "It'll be hard to spread those out when Glinen and Lilie both outnumber us."

"Right. Which is why we need to start an alliance with Xixax as quickly as possible. I'll need you to travel with me, Alice, and Xuan Shi to Xixax's capitol."

"Alright." Julia fell silent and stared at the ground, "I'm sorry for not listening to you. I should've known something like this would happen. If I had known..."

"More people would be dead." Damien interrupted, "If you had known, you would've sent more people to their deaths. The losses we've attained were minimal."

"Minimal? We lost Lord Tosho."

"Better than losing Allen, Alex, my sister, Alice, and you. I don't wanna lose anyone else Julia." Damien fell to the floor and stared at the floor, "I nearly lost Allen and Alex as is. If we all went, we would all be dead..."

"Damien..." Julia took a seat next to Damien and leaned on his shoulder, "I understand. I just wish we could've done something."

"Me too, but you can't predict everything in war. Just when you think you have the enemy all figured out, they turn around and catch you off guard."

"Well, you still have all of us to support you and Alice. We'll always be there for you. No matter what..."

Damien looked at Julia and put his arm around her, "Thank you Julia..." He repeated, "Thank you..."

"No problem... my lord..."


End file.
